


for him.

by catherinergrove



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst, Angst and Feels, Aww, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feels, Flashbacks, Forehead Kisses, Hunk can sink, Hunk uses song lyrics to stop arguments, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Implied Childhood Sexual Abuse, Lance is scared of Shiro cause his muscles are big LOL, Langst, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, ROLO IS SKETCHY LMAO, Sad Keith (Voltron), Sadness, Shiro dooooessss have the best bitch slap ya kno..., Song Lyrics, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), Space Mom Allura (Voltron), There is going to be a lot of chapters, YEAAAAAAAA, kangst, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-11-07 00:35:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 27,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11047617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catherinergrove/pseuds/catherinergrove
Summary: College AU about Keith dealing with his past while Lance tries to fix a mistake he made a long time ago.-Keith was finally able to live peacefully until someone from his past walks back into view.Upon meeting this person,  memories are uprooted, pain is felt, and the years of abuse begin to replay.Lance. Young, handsome, and recently kicked out of his college, decides to attend the college of his hometown.Familiar faces and new friends, he stumbles upon a person that he hasn't seen for years, but has been itching in the back of his mind ever since that fateful day long ago.





	1. Prolouge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Published: May 30th, 2017

Sometimes the memories of that day replays in his mind. It was like a plague, sometimes spreading through his head and never leaving. He made wishes of how he could go back and change the past, but it couldn't be done. Nothing could be changed. If only he didn’t… Fuck up…

He never even had a chance to apologize.

 

* * *

 

It was the spring of freshman year in high school. Lance was in the male locker room of his school changing when he couldn’t help to notice the boy changing next to him.

Keith.

Keith was never a talker. He actually never did much. Keith was that small, quiet, mysterious boy that people never knew anything about. But… according to his baggy clothing, overgrown hair, and downcast face, people could tell he was going through some rough shit at home.

As Keith lifted up his shirt Lance couldn’t divert his gaze from Keith’s body. It wasn’t how Keith was so thin that his bones stuck out or his sickly white skin tone, but what marred the wholeness of his complexion. The blue and purple splotches were across his abdomen and trailed to his back.

_When Lance looks back he wishes he could've stopped to yell at himself to not do the thing he did_

Lance reached for the marks and his fingers trailed the skin of his quiet classmate. Only seconds later did he receive a response.  

“MMm!-”

A small sound escaped Keith as he winced in pain.

_'What was that?'_

Lance made eye contact with Keith, and deep down inside of Keith’s eyes, into Keith’s soul, he saw: fear.

Keith averted his gaze to the other direction. Lance couldn’t help but wonder. Curiosity always got the best of him.

“Hey.”

_Nothing_

“Hey, Keith.”

_Nothing_

“HEY!”

The unexpected loudness scraped against Keith's ears as he winced again. The yell gained the attention of a few people around him, but they ignored it after a few seconds passed.

“What?” Keith said, not even sparing a single glance as he closed his locker.

And there he was, Lance, having a conversation with someone he never thought he would be talking to. He didn’t know what to do, so, he looked towards the ceiling.

“Uh.. Um… So… what are those marks?”

Nothing. _Again._

“Keith?”

“I’d rather… not…” Keith pressed his lips together as he got ready to reword his answer  
“I’d rather not… talk about.” He finally responded while rubbing the back of his neck and searching for the closest exit.

“Why not?” He knew it was none of his business to ask, but he just decided to keep pushing him.

A single glance passed Lance’s way. It only lasted 2 seconds.

“I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Keith, if it’s something serious-”

“No! It’s not serious, it’s just…” He let his voice trail off, not wanting to finish. He zips up his backpack and finishes packing his remaining things.

“Keith, if it’s something serious you have to tell someone.”

“It’s not… It’s nothing. Really. Just… Forget about it.” Keith sends no warmth to his questioner. He slings on his backpack and speeds to the closest door.

“Keith!” Lance yells as he grabs his arm.

“MMm!!”

More looks, but he didn’t care.

It’s that wince again. Lance grabbed Keith’s wrist to pull up his sleeve to inspect the arm.

Red marks. Burns?

“Keith… What is this?”

The small boy looked away; he was always looking away.  

“I told you it’s nothing.”

“Nothing? Are you kidding me? Keith-”

“It’s nothing. Forget about it.”

“Keith I’m gonna have to tell someone-”

“NO! Lance! Please.” Keith yelled as he grabbed Lance’s shirt and moved in.

More stares.

It was so weird to Lance. Seeing such desperation on a classmate’s face when he usually saw sadness. Keith’s eyebrows furrowed close and distress clouded his eyes.

“... Why?” He whispered as he grabbed Keith’s other arm and leaned in.

“Uh…”

Keith turned his head and looked away, noticing how close Lance was, his face inching towards him. It was uncomfortable. With every touch, every word, it was making Keith's chest churn inside of him. Lance made it worse without even knowing it. He held Keith against his will while leaning in closer, and started to slowly move back to pin him to the lockers. Keith knew there was no escape.

“Lance…” He whispered, barely audible. A whisper so quiet, everyone could hear a pin drop even if he was talking.  
“P-please…”

He could see his eyes water. Keith was scared, he knew it. He knew it and yet… He just kept pressing him. He didn’t know when to fucking stop.

“Keith…”

Lance knew it was going to happen. He knew and yet… From the way Keith winced, and whispered, and inched away, and averted his gaze… He knew Keith wasn’t okay. And what did he do? There was no going back.

Small droplets of water started rolling down Keith’s cheeks. He began to quietly sob as he moved back. He could hear the soft pang that was caused when Keith let the back of his head hit the lockers, but it took nothing away from his little cry.

Everyone was watching now.

The small, weak boy was in his grasp, but Lance could only watch.  
He knew he would cry, and yet he continued. He pushed. And now, what was he to do? He had never really faced anything like this before, but the only thing he knew was that he made his classmate cry. He pursed his lips and waited a few moments. Every moment hearing every soft sob Keith made only increased the weight of the load inside of him.

“Keith I-”

“LANCE MCCLAIN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!??”

The young boy turned to face their Gym teacher. Right now, it didn’t look good for Lance. He was pinning the quiet kid to the lockers against his will while he cried in his arms. It didn’t look good for Lance, at all.

 

* * *

 

Later that day, both of the boys were taken to the principal's office to explain the situation. It was only a misunderstanding. Some of the other classmates thought that Lance was pressuring Keith into doing something that he didn’t want to do and had reported that to the teacher. Lance explained his side of the story and Keith agreed with it. No one really mentioned anything about Keith crying. According to his circumstances, they were quiet… reasonable in a sense. In a sense that it would be okay for him to cry. The case was settled and they returned to class for the day.

Lance waited for Keith the next day but he was absent. He waited for the next day and the next day, but no day brought success. It wasn’t until 2 weeks later that it was announced to the class the Keith had moved to a different school. Lanced waited with such a heavy feeling of guilt in his chest every day, but he couldn’t do anything about it now.

He never even had the chance to apologize.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 6/28/17  
> THESE HORIZONTAL LINES ARE A GAME CHANGER OMG


	2. In the Back of my Mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I rarely do chapter summaries. Sorry kids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Published: June 4th, 2017
> 
> Heyyyo. I just wanted to give a few disclaimers, they're not that important so skip if you want. This is my first time writing a ff and my second time using my account on ao3. I'm kinda nervous. I'm not good at writing so spare me if some things are off. I'm planning to make this a full story. More than 10 chapters and that stuff. I'm probably boring you if you're still reading but I'll add a page about myself at the end. Anyways, continue reading and enjoy! 
> 
>  -Update: Like 12 hours I've posted the chapter-  
> Omg bless my heart I just learned how to do italics on this site. I originally wrote this in word and when I transfer my work the italics don't come. I'm so happy because italics are life. Pls try not to cringe too much. K, love u. Bye ^^

Lance stepped out of the stuffy administration office into the bright and breezy outside world. It was only the third week of March, but it almost felt like Spring had its grasp on Casttel University. The sun was shining (for now) and the breeze ruffled Lance’s medium length, brown hair.

Lance stretched like he had never stretched before. Being in that room for hours was an absolute bore; there was nothing to do but listen to the clock tick and papers shuffle. Lance felt like his life force was draining away as the hours ticked on in waste, but he revived when he heard the receptionist call him over to tell him that his paperwork was done.

He was transferring to Casttel University in the city of Alteia. It was an unexpected transfer, explaining why Lance had to endure such a long wait; not to mention it was a little strange to transfer during this time of year. He almost didn’t make it in, but he ‘knew’ some people.

He originally went to a different university a few states away but was kicked out after a certain _scandal_. So, he decided to attend the Uni of his hometown. Clean town, old friends, cute transfers; after everything he went through, nothing could have been better!

It was around 3 o’clock in the afternoon and Lance felt a soft grumble in his stomach. He was in the mood for some food but decided to walk around a bit. Maybe find someone cute to show him some new places that have popped up while he was gone.

While walking he saw a cute boy sitting under the shade of a tree reading. Lance winked at the young fellow and he reciprocated by smiling back.

He started walking on the main road on the campus and passed by a few buildings. It was more modern than the traditional buildings he just spent his entire day in. Lance gazed at the sky of glass windows and amazing architectural arches that bent every which way; he stared in admiration for a moment until he was interrupted by a voice from behind.

“Never seen you before.”

Lance turned around to greet the mysterious voice. He was faced with a slender body accompanied by straight, luscious locks of black hair. Her pink skirt was hiked up a little to scandalously but it let Lance admire her smooth thighs. Her blouse flowed in the wind and showed off the nice highs of her collarbone. She hit a lot of Lance’s kinks.

_‘Jackpot’_

“Well, well, well, I’ve never seen you around here before either.” He responded as he flashed his smile with swooning abilities.

“Ha ha. Of course you haven’t, I don’t think you even go here. Are you trespassing?” She slyly said as she turned to the side look at him with one eye.

Lance choked a bit and looked off to the side. Lance was in the system, but he was supposed to start tomorrow. So _technically_ he was trespassing, but she didn’t need to know.

“Ha ha. No. I just transferred so I’m walking around a bit.”

She narrowed her eyes a bit but brushed it off.

“Oh, cool! What’s your major?"

"I'm in marketing."

“And you’re hanging out in the science section of the campus?”

“Well… I got lost. I was just waiting for my angel to come and guide me.” Lance said as he let a quick wink pass between them.

“So, I’m your angel then?”

“If you want to be.”

“I wouldn't pass up the opportunity.” She responded with a smirk.

They locked eyes and felt a spark mark the beginnings of their connection. They started talking about the campus and people there. After a short while, people started filing out of the nearest building. Lance watched the people poured out like a string of ants and he kept his eyes on them. After the ‘formalities’ and what not were given, the girl asked him an important question.

“We’ve been talking for a while, but I don’t even know your name. Wanna fix that?”

Lance couldn’t believe he had been talking to this girl for 20 minutes and didn’t even bother to ask for her name. Then again, when Lance starts talking to someone, time just flies.

“Of course. The name’s Lance. And the name of my darling angel is…?”

“Ha ha, funny. Well if you want to kno-”

Lance was cut off by what he saw in the distance. It was more like who he saw in the distance. A slender body with slightly messy black hair. Lance only knew one person that looked like that, and that person was from his past. Was the past about to resurrect itself?

_‘No, it can’t be him. It just can’t.’_

“Umm…”

_‘No, it can’t be him, he moved a long time ago.’_

“Umm… Hello?”

_‘That’s definitely not him, I’m just seeing things.’_

“HELLO???”

Lance kept his eyes fixed on the person, too afraid to let go of the fact that he might miss his opportunity to fix something that’s been scratching at the back of his mind for years. The person kept walking away but Lance was frozen in place. He started to feel the sweat form on the back of his neck and drip down. Lance didn’t know what to do, he wanted to run to this person and apologize but his rationality kept him on the ground.

_‘There’s no way…’_

“…”

The person turned their head to talk to a lady approaching their side. Lance held his breath, there was no mistaking. He began to speak, as quiet as a sizzle.

_“It’s him.”_

“Lance?”

Lance diverted his gaze to once again face the figure in front of him. His face showed a different expression than the smirky smile she showed only moments ago.

“I- I-"

“Lance? Are you alright?”

“I… Umm… I have to go. Like, right now.”

“What?”

“I have to- Uhh… Sorry!”

Lance grabbed her shoulder as a final gesture and dashed off. He darted through the crowd of people to meet the soul that has been haunting the back of his mind for so long.

“Sorry!” Lance yelled as he accidentally bumped into someone while running.

“Excuse me!” He yelled again.

As he caught up to the larger crowd of walkers, the population of college students became denser than before.

“I’m so, so, sorry!!!”

Not only was it more crowded, but the more nervous Lance was, the clumsier he becomes. He started to trip over his own feet as he grabbed onto other people for support. He was about to reach his goal. He kept running

_‘He’s close’_

and running

_‘Almost there’_

and running

_‘A few more steps!’_

and then

_‘Finally!’_

Lance grabbed onto the person’s arm and spastically jerked the body around so he could finally see the person he was chasing after.

“Keith!”

A sudden fear arose onto Keith’s face as he looked back at the man in front of him.

“Keith! It’s me- I have to talk to you!”

A tan hand sliced down Lance’s arm, forcing him to remove his grip on Keith.

“I don’t know who you think you are, but you are not going to hold him like that, and you are _not_ going to have a talk with him. Keith, do you know this person?”

Lance ignored the voice and looked at Keith. Keith brought his hand over to the place where Lance gripped his arm. He looked at the concrete off to his side and managed to squeak out one word.

“… No.”

Lance couldn’t believe it- well he could, it has been five years after all, but he still couldn’t believe it was Keith.

“Wha- Keith, it’s me. It’s Lance, from high school.”

Keith remained quiet and continued to stare at the concrete. He took a step back and in return, Lance took a step forward, but not before a tall figure stepped in. A tan girl with wavy white hair stepped in between them, making the space between the two boys wider than before. Her sky blue eyes bore into Lance’s skull and the tall, lanky boy faltered for a bit. Suddenly, Lance recognized this girl as the owner of the hand that made him lose his grip on Keith’s arm a minute ago. As an attempt to not fall to the girl’s gaze, Lance collected his courage and began to talk again.

“Keith, we have to talk about what happened.”

Lance tried to take a step forward but the girl pushed him back.

“Keith, I’m-”

As Lanced tried to move to the side the girl continued to block his path.

“Keith.”

The girl made Lance stay put, but he had enough. He put his hand on the girl’s shoulder in an attempt to push her away, but it was all useless. The small boy turned and ran for his life. His black hair whipped in the wind as the distance between the two increased every second. The other boy felt a cold sweat form on his flesh as he watched the answer to his problems leave.

“KEITH!”

Lance ran past the girl but she grabbed onto his wrist with what felt like the power of five men and refused to let go.

“Sorry I-”

“You are not going anywhere.”

“No! But I-”

“Don’t make me hurt you.”

“I really have to-”

“This is your last chance.”

The boy was growing impatient, and the fact that he might not see Keith again was making his mind go through the roof.

“I don’t want to do this but I have no choice.”

Lance used his free hand to get a hard grip on his capturer’s shoulder, but she evaded the attack and twisted his arm up. She pulled hard so that it sent a sharp pain through his arm.

“OW! YOU CRAZY-”

Before he could even finish his sentence, the girl used her free hand to grab the back of his collar and her right leg to kick his leg forward. He fell on his back and landed on the concrete with a painful thud as the girl shifted herself on top of Lance. She grabbed his collar.

“YOU BITCH!”

The girl let go of his collar with her right hand and balled it up into a fist. Faster than a second, she punched the boy straight to the side of his jaw and it turns painfully up. While his back was getting used to the backlash of the pain from the concrete, a sharp pain crawls up the area around his jaw and down his neck. Suddenly, everything goes out of focus for Lance as the ground starts spinning.

“Ugh… What…” He groaned in pain as he was trying to understand what was happening.

“SHIROOOOOOO!!!!!!!” Lance hears the shriek and that makes the world even dizzier.

_‘Shiro?’_

In that moment, a buff man dressed in all black clothing runs out from some bushes in the distance and makes a beeline right towards him.

_‘Oh, Shiro’_

and Shiro is the last memory Lance had before he passed out.

 


	3. Time Slice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Published: June 10th, 2017
> 
> I literally had so much trouble trying to make and publish this chapter.  
> I was going through puberty and that hurt and my proofer took longer to read the chap than I expected. I called her 8 times straight this morning and she didn't pick up. Lmao. Finally, I had trouble transferring my work to Ao3 but after 45 minutes it's all good. I think. 
> 
> Originally Chap 2 and 3 were supposed to be 1 chapter but Ao3 kept freezing on me so now it's 2. 
> 
> I wrote 5k words and I literally have never written that much by choice. 
> 
> A thousand sorries because the next 2 chapters might be wonky. There's a fun scene in this chap and the next chap so look forward to that. I'll spare you the specifics. 
> 
> Enjoy!!!

“I can’t believe this hooligan was just running around the campus!” Allura exclaimed with her snobbish, British accent as she stood up in the moderately lit room. Lance watched quietly as Shiro began talking from his seat.

“Now, now Allura, he’s a student on campus. He wasn’t just ‘running’ around”

“But, if he was entered into the system today, he is not supposed to be here until tomorrow!”

Lance felt his patience diminish under the Allura’s presence, so, he decided to join the conversation as well.

“Hey! If I’m a student here, is it wrong to look around my campus?”

Allura started to open her mouth but Shiro’s voice sliced through and silenced both of them.

“Enough! Now, onto the issue at hand, Lance, what were you doing with Keith?”

Lance looked at Allura and saw her eyes narrow at him, ignoring that act of distrust he faced Shiro and began to tell his story.

“I just wanted to talk to him.”

Allura rolled her eyes in exasperation.

“Of course you did. Right after you gripped his arm and twisted him around like a maniac.”

“Allura, enough, please. Your comments aren’t going to help me assess what happened. Lance, why did you want to talk to Keith?”

Lance watched as Allura began to sizzle in silence. She made no attempt in glaring at him anymore.

“I wanted to talk to him about… Uh…”

“About...?”

“I’m not sure if he would want me to… disclose his information. It’s about his past.”

“Lance, if there’s anything you want to say you can say it to us. I’m the assistant dean of disciplinary action among students and Allura is in charge of watching the student body. We both have jobs of taking care of the students on this campus. It’s our _job_ to Lance, you can trust us.”

Lance breathed in and took a long breath out. He looked at both of them while they both waited patiently for his answer. Lance wasn’t sure if it was okay, but if they were who they say they are, he felt like he could trust them.

“When I was in high school, I was in one of Keith’s classes. In gym while he was changing I saw that he had bruises on his body. I asked him what they were but he didn’t answer me. When I pressed him about it, he began to cry. I waited for him to come to school the next day, but he didn’t come. Then, we learned that he moved. While I was on campus, I saw him and chased him. When I was growing up, that incident was always at the back of my mind and I couldn’t make it leave unless I apologized. I saw Keith, and I just wanted to apologize to him for what happened back then.”

Shiro and Allura looked at each other, and Shiro began to recline in his chair, satisfied with the long explanation that Lance just gave.

“Do you have any explanation as to why Keith had those marks in the first place?”

Lance had to think back for a few minutes before he could speak again.

“Everyday, Keith would come in with kind of messy hair and oversized clothes. Everyone was sure that he wasn’t taken care of that good at home." There was a pause as Lance looked down at his hands, then back at Shiro. "I think… I think his dad gave him those marks.”

Allura looked at Shiro with slightly furrowed brows and he looked back at her.

_‘They know something.’_

Shiro cleared his throat as he was forming his next sentence.

“Alright Lance, that’s all we needed to know. Thank you for your time, you may leave.”

 

* * *

 

“Oh god, Allura is such a bitch.” Lance said before he took a huge slurp of his vanilla milkshake. His friend Hunk was sitting next to him in the McDonald’s booth while his other friend, Pidge, sat across from him. It was almost 6 o'clock, but the sky looked like it was still late morning. Lance wasn’t happy that he had to eat his ‘lunch’ so late or that he went through a bunch of drama prior, but at least he could vent to his two best friends.

“Lance, that’s not very nice.” Hunk chastised. Lance replied by rolling his eyes while Pidge opened her mouth.

“Allura? Do you not like her? Too straight-laced for ya? I thought you liked all girls.”

The tall boy groaned and stared at the ceiling. He let his head roll back, dreading the thought of even thinking of her.

“It’s more like _she_ doesn’t like _me_.” Lance rolled his shoulders back slowly, there was still some pain left from Allura pinning him to the ground.

“What happened?” Hunk questioned while Pidge ate her fries and started to play a game on her phone. Lance looked at him, ignoring the obnoxious techno music coming from the cellular device.

“I was trying to talk to some kid and she must have thought that I was trying to rape him or something cause she fucking flipped me or some shit and punched my face.”

“What kid?”

“Keith.”

Pidge paused her game and decided to re-enter the conversation out of curiosity.

“Who?” Sadly, she was ignored.

“Are you sure?”

“Oh, I’d know that black mop of hair anywhere.”

“Who’s Keith?” Pidge asked while raising her voice so she could be heard.

Lance made eye contact with Pidge and began to spew out words that made Pidge kind of regret saying anything in the first place.

“Remember? Keith? From high school? Tiny, Asian, likes the color red, he had black, kind of messy, unicorn hair? I made him cry and almost got suspended, remember?”

“Oohhhh… Right. And I called you a fucking douche after you told me that, right?”

“Yea, that Keith.”

“So, not only did you manage to make him cry, but when you met him again like five years later, you managed to spook him so bad that you got another student to actually attack you?”

Lance opened his mouth to interject but closed it a few seconds later. As he thought about what Pidge said, he couldn’t think of anything good against it, so he just agreed with it.

“Yea, you’re right. Are you satisfied?”

“Very.”

The voice next to Lance spoke and Lance and Pidge both averted their gazes to meet the person talking.

“Wait… Keith? Hey Pidge, aren’t Allura and Keith really close?”

“I don’t know Hunk, but I think they have some kind of relationship.”

Hunk thought for a bit and confirmed his answer in his mind with a nod.

“Yea, I think they do actually. Whenever you drop me off in front of the trees with my club, I always see Keith and Allura talking to each other as they walk together. They walk together almost every day.”

“Wait, but they’re not even in the same major. So Allura just _talks_ to Keith?”

Lance took another slurp of his shake as he let his two friends continue their conversation.

“I think so. But they’re not even in the same major, the place where they take their classes is actually far away from each other now that I think about it. It’s nice that Allura takes time out of her day to talk to Keith.”

“Ugeheuhgheuh!!!!!” Lance cried out, breaking his silence.

“Enough of Allura! Just stop! Please! Have mercy on my soul!”

Pidge felt her eyes roll to the top of her head as she listened to the 20-year-old man groan. Without warning, she got up, went to the condiment stand in that restaurant, retrieved a packet of salt, went back to her table, and threw the packet of salt at Lance.

The packet hit Lance’s shoulder but he didn’t react till 10 seconds later. He dramatically clutched his heart with both hands and drew the emotion of betrayal on his face while gasping.

“Pidge! How dare you assault me! Ha. Salt. Get it? Assault? Cause it sounds like salt?” The lanky college student with the mind of a pubescent boy threw finger guns at his assailant.

“Ooo, good one Lance.” Hunk commented, looking legitimately impressed. She ignored both of her friends and eased back into her seat at the booth. She released a sigh before talking again.

“I threw it at you for being _salt-y_. You may not like Allura because she’s stronger than you, and smarter than you, and more dependable than you, and you’re jealous of her abilities, but you shouldn’t hate her just because she attacked you with her prowess and you lost.”

Lance gasped his dramatic gasp and looked at his friend in disbelief.

“ _Me?_ _Jealous_ of _her?_ Well, you are mistaken! I’m not jealous of her, or anyone! And just so you know, a lot of people depend on me!”

“Oh, yea? Like who?”

He blinked, his thoughts were blank but he had to think of a comeback, an answer, something.

“Uh… Like my cousin… And my little niece!”

“Lance... Aren’t they both one-year-old?”

“What are you trying to say?” Lance looked at her questionably, cocking his eyebrow.

_“~Sleep on me~”_

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN _‘What are you trying to say?'_ OF COURSE THEY HAVE TO DEPEND ON YOU, OR SOMEONE, THEY’RE ONE!!!”

_“~Feel the rhythm in my chest~”_

_“_ IT STILL DOESN’T TAKE AWAY FROM THE FACT THAT THEY NEED ME!”

_“~Just breathe~”_

“YOU’RE BEING RIDICULOUS! THEY’RE ONE-YEAR-OLD!”

“ _YOU’RE_ BEING RIDICULOUS! _YOU’RE_ ONE-YEAR-OLD!”

_“~And I will stay~”_

“WOW LANCE, YOU ARE A PARAGON OF LEADERSHIP. WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO NOW? KILL ALL OF YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS TO FURTHER PROVE YOUR POINT THAT YOUR ONE-YEAR-OLD COUSIN AND NIECE NEED YOU?!”

_“~So the lantern in your heart won’t fade~”_

Lance and Pidge put their conversation on pause to scream in unison.

“HUNK!!! WHY ARE YOU SINGING???!?”

The large adult jumped in his seat, fear clouding his eyes, and responded with the same volume of the people that have just yelled at him.

“AHHH. I DON’T KNOW. I THOUGHT IT WOULD HELP YOU GUYS STOP FIGHTING.”

“WELL, HUNK.”

“YES, PIDGE?”

“YOU DIDN’T HELP.”

“AHHHHHHHH!!!”

“STOP SCREAMING!!!”

“PIDGE, WHY IS HE SCREAMING?”

“I DON’T KNOW, LANCE, BUT MAKE HIM STOP!!!”

“AHHHHHHHH!!!”

“AHHHHHHHH!!!”

“LANCE, WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING???”

“BECAUSE I’M SCARED! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

Honestly, Pidge was scared too.

“AHHHHHHHH!!!”

“AHHHHHHHH!!!”

But she had enough. The small girl emboldened her resolve and thought of a plan to make her friends shut up. With swift movements, she carried out the thoughts in her head. Nimble fingers grabbed a bunch of fries and forcefully shoved them into Hunk’s mouth. The fingers on her other hand held her phone as she used her thumb to unlock the screen. With a few short taps, she went to her camera and switched the cameras so the front camera was being used. Finally, she slammed the phone into Lance’s face. Hunk quietly munched on the fries while Lance took the phone, smiled, grabbed his chin, and winked at his own visage.

Pidge just stared at her two friends, they were too ridiculous to comprehend, and soon enough, she found herself hysterically laughing at them. Lance and Hunk looked at each other bewilderedly, but Pidge’s laugh was contagious, and they found themselves laughing too. Their laughs echoed into each other’s ear and they didn’t stop laughing until a minute later when their sides were starting to hurt and the pain was becoming a bit unbearable.

Lance slowed down his laughter and wrapped an arm around himself to stabilize his aching sides. His sides were in pain, but it was a good pain that he hadn’t felt in a while. He used his other hand to wipe a tear from his eye before speaking again.

“It’s been great hanging with you guys again, but you know what would complete it for me?”

“What?” Pidge questioned, with a few lingering laughs in between.

“I need to go to a party.”

Hunk finished his last laughs to respond to his buddy.

“So you’re not going to the party tonight?”

“There’s a party tonight?

Pidge looked at her crazy party enthusiast in shock.

“You didn’t know that there was gonna be a party tonight?”

Lance looked at her questionably, actually expecting the question she just asked to be rhetorical.

“Uh… No? Did you just forget, I _literally_ just transferred in, like, _today._ ”

“Wow, I would've expected you to know everything about the parties here in general.”

Lance took that in, reveling in the complement that Pidge may or may not have intentionally given.

“Guess I’m just a little rusty because of the move.” He said with a cocky smirk.

“But anyways, tell me about this party.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okie so the song that Hunk sings is Guillotine by Jon Bellion.  
> That's actually the song that got me into Voltron because I watched the one with Elentori's art and was like  
> 'Damn, this cute.' And I really wanted to know who the characters in the song were so I googled it and BAM I'm here. 
> 
> Anyways here is Elyjah's vr w/ Elentori's fanart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpEX_TV3M_M  
> and Jon Bellion's original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2ymJcCwS_s
> 
> I literally fell in love with the song and it's meaning and the animations by Elentori were so beautifully woven into the song I died. It made me feel soooo many emotions I just had to add this tid bit ;) 
> 
> Oh and my chapter titles are gonna change alot because I wanna find absolute perf titles. just a heads-up


	4. Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Published: June 10th, 2017
> 
> I guess this is like the second part of the last chapter. Well, it's more like the third part of the chapter before the last chapter. 
> 
> I originally wanted long chapters but things started messing up and my friends said that shorter chapters would be better. 
> 
> In a sense, it is because I'm planning to make this story have a long yet 'fleeting' feeling in a sense? Idk, it just wouldn't work out if I make a long ass chapter that takes place in a day and then write a short chapter after that takes place a week later- which kinda happens in this story. Welp, whatever. 
> 
> Enjoy!!!

Lance walked up to the large house, hugging his frame trying to brace the cold winds that came his way. Spring fever was there during the day, but it felt like any other winter during the night.

“Damn, why is it so _fucking_ cold” Lanced cursed under his breath, letting a hiss fall through.

Lance bounced up the steps and walked through to the door. He wasn’t even inside yet but he could smell the booze on the party-goers’ breaths. The music was blasting through the house and reverberated through the walls.

As he stepped through the door, he was hit with a wave of chaos. No real lights were on but the red and green strobe lights lit the room enough for Lance to see a few faces in front of him. The pounding music blasted through all the halls and corridors and ceased to end. He didn’t have to see to know that there was alcohol there- _tons_ of alcohol.

Lance walked past a group of party kids playing beer-pong in the living room and walked around into the kitchen. The kitchen was always a calm place, but he heard a lot of moaning and the lights were off so he decided to not venture there.

He walked past the bear-pong table again and into the other living room, but, before he made it in he was stopped by what seemed to be another fellow student. The man stepped in front of Lance before he could move further, and since he was fairly close, that gave Lance a pretty good view of him. He was... kind of sketchy… His long hair framed his face and made way to show the stubble on his chin. On top of him was a short vest with a t-shirt underneath that was kind of matted. Lance didn’t want to stare anymore, so he decided to start the conversation.

“Hey man, can I help you?”

The person in front of him sniffed while looking both ways before looking Lance in the eyes to speak.

“Hey, I was just wondering if you wanted to buy some… party supplies…”

_‘Party supplies?’_

“What do you mean?”

“Uhh… I just thought I had what you need.”

“Rolo, what are you doing?”

A lyrical voice rounded the corner and walked up to the man in front of Lance.

_‘So he’s ‘Rolo’’_

The _new_ stranger wore a yellow crop top that revealed her midriff and the strobe lights highlighted the smooth plains on her stomach. Her platinum blonde hair was tied into two ponytails that framed her icy blue eyes. Even though Lance couldn’t see her well under the dim lights, he knew she was eyeing him.

Stranger #1 turned to stranger #2 and romantically met her gaze as he spoke.

“Nothin much Nyma, just doin’ my job” He let out before giving her a quick peck on the lips. He turned to face Lance again to get on with business.

“So, you want anything or not?”

Lance was approached a few times like this, and he fairly knew what was going on, but he just wanted to confirm if his theory was true or not.

“Um… Would you happen to be talking about drugs?”

Rolo just looked at him dumbfounded.

“What else did you think I was talking about?”

Nyma rolled her eyes in disdain.

“Do you want the stuff or not?”

The tall lanky college student gasped loudly which startled the pair in front of him.

“ME? BUYING DRUGS?” The loudness attracted the attention of a few passers-byes before Rolo and Nyma roughly shushed him. Nyma brought her voice to a whisper.

“You idiot! Are you trying to get us caught?”

Lance lowered his volume so he could match her’s. Words spewed out from quivering lips.

“Me? Buying drugs?! I wouldn’t dare! Do you know how bad they are for you? I could have dilated pupils and what if they never go back to the way they were before!? It could damage my blood vessels, obliterate my perfectly white teeth, and worst of all, IT COULD RUIN MY FACE!!!”

This time, Rolo wasn’t the only one staring at Lance with a dumbfounded expression. They both looked at him with that expression on their faces with their mouths gaped open wide. The couple stared at him for a minute before Nyma broke the silence.

“You’re afraid of drugs… Because it’ll ruin your skin?”

Lance couldn’t help but yell with both arms flung out into the air.

“OF COURSE!!!”

Rolo and Nyma just stared at Lance yet again, they were absolutely speechless. They stared at Lance, while Lance stared at them.

“Hey, Rolo?”

“Yea, Nyma?”

“Let’s just leave.”

“Okay.”

Rolo snaked his arm around Nyma’s hips as they walked around Lance left him to his own devices.

_‘Huh, what a pair of weirdos.’_

Since the obstacle in his way was now removed, Lance was able to walk freely into the living room. He saw the holy grail known as the snack table and walked to the side with the liquor. Of course, alcohol could change someone’s appearance, but Lance thought otherwise.

 _‘A little won’t hurt’_ ran through his mind as he grabbed a mystery cup from the table.

As he was lifting the cup, his thoughts were disturbed by a tap on his back. As he turned around to meet the figure that tapped him, a smile crept along his face.

“Hey, haven’t seen you in awhile.” He said while flashing his winning smile.

The girl in front of him snorted in disbelief at what she just heard.

“Yea right, if you count a few hours as ‘awhile’.”

“What, not happy to see me?” Lance felt his confidence deteriorate a little, but he knew how to get back.

“Sort of, kind of not happy that you just randomly blew me off earlier.”

_‘Ha ha, oh yea…’_

“Ah… About that…”

“Baku!” the shout ran across the room and toward Lance’s direction. Lance and the girl in front of him both turned their heads to meet the caller. They were both greeted with a mane of blond hair and blue streaks, with a skin-tight outfit that was certainly scandalous.

Lance turned to face the person he was originally talking to.

“So, your name is Baku?”

“People call me Brie-”

“But her _real_ name is Baku.” The girl that called her name moments ago chimed in with a smile.

“Oh, stop it you.” Baku said as she playfully punched her friend in the arm.

“So, who are _you?_ ” Lance questioned, cocking an eyebrow at Brie.

“She’s Luxia.” Luxia grinned at Lance.

“I’m Baku’s best friend.”

“Oh, cool!” Lance passed on his signature smile to Luxia.

“So, when did you transfer in?”

“Not long ago, I actually transferred in today.”

“And you’re at a party already?”

Lance smirked. “Heh, yea.”

“Party guy?”

The smirk lingered on his face. “A bit.”

“Ooo… So, when did you guys meet.”

“Today.”

“Oh wow. Well, that didn’t take long.” She said in a somewhat sly tone while elbowing her bff. Baku blushed a bit looking the other way. Baku took a glimpse of Lance, but quickly averted her gaze.

_‘What? Were they talking about me?’_

“Ha, yea…”

“So,” Baku said to break her ice. “How’s the party?”

“Oh, it’s great! People, darkness, flashing lights that can cause photosensitive epilepsy, it’s been pretty cool.”

She giggled. “By the way you described it, it doesn’t sound cool. But I know what you mean.”

Lance didn’t want to third-wheel Luxia, but he really wanted to talk to Baku. Luxia knew it too, so she found someone in the crowd and waved, using it as an escape to pry herself from the conversation.

“Palxum! Well, wouldn’t want to get in between you two. See ya, Lance!” Luxia whispered a little something to Baku before she left. The way she handled it was discreet, but he felt like she knew he was watching her.

_‘What was that about?’_

“So, just the the two of us?”

“Yea.” Lance smiled. It felt like around her, he couldn’t stop smiling. “Just the two of us.”

Lance talked to Baku for a while. They talked about what felt like nothing but everything at the same time. Lance liked the way her eyes sparkled a bit when she talked and how she had to stare up at him because he was so frikin’ tall compared to her. It was nice, her fun personality, her smooth skin, the way the lights caressed every curve of her body…

“You know what I mean right?”

“Heh, yea totally. It’s so ridiculously simple, people are just… Crazy if they do stupid shit like that.”

“Oh my god. That’s what I’m saying!!!”

Lance couldn’t help but smile at the way she jumped up while saying her last sentence. He couldn't help it, she was adorable.

They talked and talked and talked, and he didn’t mean too, but eventually, he zoned out and fixed his attention on something in the corner. Actually, he had been eyeing the thing in the corner for some time now, but it wasn’t till then when he decided to pay closer attention. The room was dark, of course, but the flashing lights sprayed over the corner intermittently and showed a pair of slender legs on a beanbag chair.

 _‘What is that thing? A human?’_ Lance squinted, trying to recognize what he was staring at.

“Ugh… Again?”

Lance snapped out of his trance to speak up.

“Uh… Yea...?”

“Lance, you blanked out on me _again_.”

“Oh, sorry. I just… I’ve been through a lot today.”

“Really? It hasn’t been that long since I saw you. What happened?”

Lance expressed a sigh as he recounted the incidents that happened prior.

“Well… I was suspected of doing something weird and I was thrown onto concrete.”

Baku winced in pain, imagine what Lance encountered.

“Ouch. By who?”

“Just some crazy girl. But it’s alright, I met up with a few friends earlier and now I’m at this party. It’s been great so the day didn’t go that bad.”

“Oh, that’s better than what most people would say.” Letting a small chuckle pass her by.

Lance and Baku talked for a bit longer before Lance executed his escape to go to talk to the person in the corner.

“Hey, I gotta go talk to this person I haven’t seen in a long time, but I’ll talk to you later. I’ll _definitely_ talk to you later.”

“Of course you will.”

They said their final goodbyes as Lance made his way to the corner of the room to greet the person that’s been sitting for the entire time. Lance had a theory of who it was, but he wasn’t sure- _wouldn’t_ believe it.

Lance sat down on the beanbag chair that accompanied the first one. He looked at the mysterious stranger.

The person in the chair was someone that Lance always found his way to. The red lights shown on his dark black hair and milky white skin. It looked like he was in a state of catharsis, the way his head hung limply over his shoulder. He laid on the bean bag with a bit of his side, so Lance concluded that it was the way he was sitting that made him look dead inside. But Lance couldn’t deny that he was a bit wasted, looking at the red solo cup in his hand and the numerous other cups lain astrew as a pile near his feet.

“Hey, Keith.”

Keith turned, looking at the person greeting him, and turned away, fixing his gaze to how it previously was before. He let out a small, disheartened greeting back. It sounded smaller than a whisper. _He_ was smaller than a whisper.

“Hey.”

Lance raised his eyebrows with a bit to shock. Didn’t actually expect Keith to reply. Well actually, he wasn’t really expecting anything. Keith traced the rim of his cup with his thumb and stared into the strange liquid. He didn’t spare the man anything more, but a ‘hey’ was good enough. Lance couldn’t let this moment slip away.

“I just wanted to say- “

Lance’s chest welled with apprehension, but he rallied his courage to finally say what he wanted to say all this time. Unfortunately, Keith responded before the poor boy could even finish his sentence.

“I know.”

Lance furrowed his brows a bit. _‘Uh…’_

“What?”

“I know what you wanted to say.”

“How? I haven’t even told you what I- “

“Lance, we talked _once._ Whatever you had to say was obviously about what happened years ago.”

_‘Fair enough’_

“But Keith, I just have to say it. I’ve been feeling guilty about what happened in high school, what I let pass between you and me. So, I just wanted to apologize. I didn't mean to push you, I was just curious and stupid. I had no intentions of making you cry. Keith, I’m sorry. And for what happened earlier today-”

“I’m sorry.”

This boy was just doing _wonders_ for Lance’s array of facial expressions. What he said led Lance to be more confused than he was before.

“Why are you sorry?”

“I ran away, and I… I shouldn’t have done that. It’s just that…”

Keith shifted his body so that he laid on his other side to make eye contact with Lance.

“You brought up bad memories.”

_‘Oh… Yea…’_

“Ah… Sorry.”

“You didn’t mean to.”

“I know, but I could have also been a little more graceful about the whole thing.”

Keith let out a sign of positive emotion -probably the first- that Lance had ever seen on Keith.

A small smile.

“Yea…”

Lance shouldn’t of, but he stared at Keith. His limbs were glued together, like in a protective manner, but whatever Keith was drinking was making him a little looser. The alcohol gave his cheeks a nice pink flush and the gray-blue hue in his eyes were amethyst under the lights. His doll-like eyes were moist and glimmered. His hair hung loosely on his head and his head hung loosely on his neck. The angle of his head was awkward, but it was charming. Lance felt his throat tighten.

_‘He’s pretty.’_

“Keith?”

“Mmm?”

“Do you forgive me?”

“MmHmm.”

“And you’re okay with me, and everything?”

“Mmm...”

“Hey, Keith?”

“Mmm?”

“Are those your drinks on the floor?”

Lance dragged his eyes to the plastic cups on the floor. There were at least four cups, five counting the one in Keith’s hand.

“MmHmm.”

“Have you been drinking?”

“MmHmm.”

“Keith?”

“Mmm?”

“Do you actually expect me to understand you?”

“Mmm… MmMmmm.”

The sober one released a long sigh.

_‘God bless his soul’_

Lance didn’t know what to say, but he didn’t really have to say anything at all. Soon enough, Keith stopped all movements, closed his eyes, and fell asleep. Lance was oblivious to this.

“Hey, Keith?”

“…”

“Keith?”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…Keith?”

Lance stared at Keith and finally put one and one together. Well, one and five counting the drinks. 

_'Welp'_

Lance got up to leave the party but looked back to see the person he was just talking to. Keith was swallowed up by the chair and sleeping peacefully despite the monster of the party around him.

_‘Well… I, I just can’t leave him here. But what do I do? Uh… I could take him to my apartment… I’d probably get mowed by Allura again….. Fuck.’_

Lance sat the fuck down, thinking about what to do.

_‘I could call Pidge; she could find his address… But isn’t that an invasion of privacy?? I could call Hunk. He could… sing a song? Ugh!!!’_

Lance ruffled his hair in frustration. After sitting for a while he looked at Keith, his lonely body still lying comfortably in the bean bag.

_‘I’ll get through this’_

Lance thought about other people he knew at that school that he could call to help Keith.

_‘Brie? Luxia? Plaxum? Isn’t Plaxum a type of fish???’_

He thought, but to no prevail, until a potato came flying into his inner eye and a revelation hit him.

_‘SSHHHIRRROOOOOOOOOOO!!!'_

_I could call Shiro!!! Didn’t he say he was like… Important...? That means his number should be on the school’s website somewhere.’_

Lance unlocked his screen and the unexpected brightness made Lance’s eyes cringe in pain. After a few moments of tapping, he found the man, and his number.

After a few more moments, Lance sent a text Shiro’s way and waited for a response.

 **Lance:** SHIRO???

 **Unidentified Contact:** Hello. I am a member of the disciplinary committee of Casttel University. How may I help you?

Lance breathed a short sigh of relief and quickly went back to his phone

 **Lance:** IT’S LANCE. I’M IN A BIT OF A PICKLE.

 **Unidentified Contact:** Uhh… Hey Lance, how can I help?

_‘Thank god he didn’t ignore me’_

**Lance:** OKAY. SO.

Lance slowed down and tried to type decently.

 **Lance:** Would you happen to know where Keith lives?

 **Unidentified Contact:** Uhh… Why..?

 **Lance:** So I’m at this party and Keith is here, but he’s asleep. I don’t wanna leave him here alone.

 **Unidentified Contact:** I do.

 **Lance:** REALLY???

 **Unidentified Contact:** Yea, I live with him actually.

 **Lance:** Oh, thank god.

 **Unidentified Contact:** I’ll send the address your way.

 **Lance:** Okay. Thanks.

The address lit up Lance’s screen. He was ready to go. The only problem was Keith. Lance didn’t want to wake him up since he was sleeping so peacefully. There was only one thing to do.

Lance gently cradled Keith in his arms and lifted him up. He was surprised-

_‘He weighs a feather.’_

Keith’s head was starting to roll to the side and that would lead to a bad neck ache when he woke up. So, Lance nudged his head until it was laying across Lance’s chest. He carried him bridal-style out of the house. He felt a few stares on him, he _knew_ people were staring at him, but he didn’t care.

He stepped outside and started walking. The outside temperatures were as harsh as ever, but the little water bottle in Lance’s arms radiated a comfortable heat. Keith was carried effortlessly to Lance’s car and gently put in the front seat. The driving lamp spread an unfamiliar bright light that Lance had to adjust to, but when he did, he saw all of Keith. The boy couldn’t help but stare. Watching Keith like that made Lance feel… vulnerable.

He reached across Keith’s body to put in his seat belt and was startled by Keith’s breath against his neck. The sudden warmth and smell of booze made a shiver crawl down his back.

He climbed into the driver’s seat and started his car. He took one last peek at his companion. The sleeping person’s chested lifted and sank with the alignment of his long and deep breaths. Lance started driving.

 

* * *

 

Lance arrived at the apartment building where Keith lived. Considering Keith’s appearance six years ago, this apartment complex was  _very_ boujee. There weren’t many lights on, but even under the glow of a few street lamps and apartment lights, Lance could tell that the apartment complex was very elegant.

“Hey, Keith.” Lance whispered, trying to not wake Keith too harshly. He shook him gently and eyelashes started to flutter.

“Mmmmm… Lance?”

“Hey, we’re at your apartment complex right now. I’m here to take you home.”

“Mmm… Okay…”

Keith slowly got up from his seat and into the night cold. As he stepped he tripped over the curb. His movements were a bit laggy due to the drinks, but Lance caught him in time. Lance’s right hand wrapped around Keith’s waist while his other hand held Keith’s shoulder. He couldn’t help but notice how skinny he was.

“Careful now.”

“…”

Lance locked his car and started walking towards the entrance of the building. Keith silently stalked along. As Lanced walked into the apartment complex, he was even more amazed by the interior. A crystal chandelier hung in the middle of the lobby and refracted light a million which ways into the already bright room. There were elaborate columns etched with intricate designs and the floor had work that looked like it took a decade to draw out.

"I thought places were only this decked in movies"

He and Keith were beamed up onto the 11th floor. It was Keith’s turn to lead the way. Keith walked in front of Lance and continued straight to his apartment. He stopped in front of a door and knocked. Soon enough, the door opened and Shiro appeared. Shiro gave the both of them a warm smile and Lance gave one back. Shiro stepped out the way to make room for Keith to go in. He slowly walked inside.

“Keith!” Came out from the inside of the apartment. Lance only saw a bit, but he knew he saw tan skin accompanied by long, white locks of hair.

_‘Allura.’_

“Lance, I can’t thank you enough.”

Lance averted his gaze and directed it to the man in front of him.

“Oh, it’s no big deal. Honestly, I couldn’t really believe he was at a party.”

The big man gave an awkward chuckle.

“Yea, it happens. I’m just glad he made it home safe. Thank you, really.”

“It’s nothing, I’m just glad I could help.”

“Shiro! Can you come here?”

The both turned to hear the voice that bellowed out.

“Alright, Lance. I have to go. I’ll see you later, good night.”

“Night.”

They both shared final looks at each other as Shiro closed the door.  

Lance was about to walk away when the door opened again. The figure that appeared in front of him created a feeling of distaste.

“Lance.”

“Allura.”

Allura inched and made the opening of the door smaller until her head was the only thing that was peeking out. She used a lower tone to continue.

“I still don’t trust you.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Next time, don’t go anywhere near Keith.”

He couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Is this what this is about? I returned him home safely, what more do you want?”

“I don’t care if you returned him home safely. You scared him today and now you show yourself in front of him again? What do you want from him?”

She was practically fuming.

“That’s none of your business. Just stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours.”

“Well, you’re _in_ my way. Keith is _my_ business, not yours. As long as I’m around, I’m definitely not going to let you do anything weird to him.”

“I wasn’t doing anything weird to him, that was your own messed up mind making you think I was a threat when I wasn’t.”

“Keith ran away-”

“It was a misunderstanding.”

“Well, whatever it was, I don’t like it.”

“I don’t care what you think, and if you’re so on edge about it, why don’t you ask him yourself?”

“I’m warning you McClain, watch yourself. If you talk to him again, you _will_ regret it.”

She slammed the door in Lance’s face, leaving him to stare at nothingness.

 

And there he was,

alone in the silence.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chap: Feels? I mean I think they're feels. Yea, feels. 
> 
> My writing is kind of random because for the last 2 chapters I tried to write on Monday to Thursday but I gave birth to nothing and last night (It was Friday because The day I'm writing this right now is 6/10/17 Saturday) I literally stayed up till 1 to finish it and I was so knocked out. I'm aiming to post next Saturday thou. 
> 
> Fun fact in my mind I had Keith as the softest little baby ever to the point where he wasn't 'Keith' anymore and he was only 'Keith' in name. But, I talked to some people and now Keith has evolved into Keith. 
> 
> Am I boring you? I feel like I am. Sorry, just tell me in the comments if I am and I'll stop. Well then again you do have the choice to skip notes. kk.  
> See you next week!!!


	5. Calm before the

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Published: June 17th, 2017
> 
> Sorry X3 I didn't have this proof and I was going to write more but first world problems blah blah blah. There's more to this scene so I'll post the next chapter in a few days instead of a week. MMMMMkay.

Darkness surrounded the lost child as he walked on, not knowing what was beyond him. It was pitch black; couldn’t see anything. He looked down, he couldn’t even see his own hands, but he felt the floor beneath his bare feet. He called out but no one answered.

“Hello?! Is anyone out there?!?”

Not even an echo could respond.

“Am… I alone..?”

He turned but saw no one, saw nothing. But a small whisper made him stand on edge.

“No.”

The goose bumps arose on his skin as he turned to search for the voice. When the nothingness greeted him, every hair on his body stood up.

“Hello? Is anyone-”

_‘run’_

That whisper was in his head this time so he wasn’t afraid. He didn’t know what to do until he felt a presence come toward him. It was heavy and made the air around him sink. It was hard to breathe; every inch of him knew it wasn’t right. His legs were heavy, but it didn’t take long to start running.

As he ran it was like the floor was shifting under him, even though he knew it wasn’t. It felt like the floor was tilting but he kept on running. He felt the presence follow him and it just wouldn’t stop. Before long, he had to stop, because of the tilting plane his next step might have resulted to him tumbling into the floor. He stopped and took a deep breath before turning around. He didn’t feel the presence on him anymore so he relaxed his shoulders and put his guard down; that was his mistake.

An arm snaked around his shoulder to cover his mouth while another maneuvered around his waist to touch his stomach. He was frozen in fear and wanted to scream but he couldn’t. The voice inside of him was stuck in his throat as he shook in place. The arms pulled in and pressed the boy’s back onto their chest.

 _“Shh… It’ll be okay…”_ Was whispered into him. The hand across his mouth tilted the boy’s head so the words could pour down his ear. It was said in a soothing way, but underneath it, it shook with malice.

He couldn’t move, couldn’t scream, couldn’t breathe. Everything was suffocating him.

The hand on his stomach slid down and laid at the hem of his shirt. He knew what was coming next, but he wished he didn’t. The hand slid lower and slowly went under the shirt. A callused hand slowly moved across his stomach as the other hand suffocated a small yelp. He could feel himself starting to cry, but the voice answered again.

 _“Shhhh… It’ll be okay…”_ the voice said again but it was only false hope. The hand moved up but slowly moved back down to grope; feel the smoothness of every inch of the stomach. The sides that curved in ever so slightly, the smooth flatness across the body, the… way his body quivered from every touch… The hand moved down to the edge of his pants and soon enough a pinky slipped inside.

_“It’ll be…”_

Slowly, all the fingers slipped into his pants.

_“okay…”_

The hand moved down his left thigh felt around. He could feel a rough thumb gingerly stroke the nook between where his leg met his torso. The touch slowly moved up and down his thigh as the boy finally screamed. The tears sped down his face as he screamed in resistance.

“NO!!! NO NO PLEASE!!! PLEEASE!!!!!”

He squirmed to get away but he couldn’t. The hand that previously covered his mouth grabbed his hair and pulled roughly while the other hand grabbed the entirety of his thigh and squeezed. He felt the tears run across his cheek, they were never going to stop falling. A scream ran straight into his ear and made the whole world ring.

 _“I TOLD YOU THAT EVERYTHING WAS GOING TO BE OKAY. EVERYTHING WAS GOING TO BE OKAY... KEITH!!!_ ”

Then, arms surrounded him from all sides and he felt a surface spread across his entire back. Nothing was holding back his screams now.

“NOOOOOO!!!!!”

“KEITH!!!”

“NOOOOO!!!!! NO NO NO I’M SO SORRY!!!!”

“KEITH!!!!!!!!”

He kicked at the arms but they went back down. It was like a tarp that was surrounding him and constricting his every movement. There was a shadow above him and he was hysterical. The figure moved its arms near Keith.

“I’M SORRY!!!!” He cried out at the shadow in front of him.

“I’M SORRYYY!!!!!” The figure grabbed both of his shoulders, he used his arms to fight back, but to no avail. He covered his head with his arms while the shadow started pressing down on him. Everything made him feel like was going to die.

“I’M SORRYY!!!” He just wanted it to quit, he just wanted it to end so badly… He gave up putting in strength. The fastest way to make something end was to let it happen so he gave up. He gave up fighting. He gave wanted to live.

“I’m sorry...” He said as he released the strength from his limbs and relaxed his back.

“I’m sorry……” The tears wouldn’t stop falling even when he closed his eyes.

“I’m so, so, sorry…” His body shook against the bed as he let everything go. Soon enough, he let go of the strength that made his body shook and laid there lifeless against his sheets.

“I’m sorry.”

He stared at the moonlight shining through his window. His limbs were heavy as his tears kept rolling. Sweat covered every inch of his body and soaked his clothes. It was over.

It was over.

A hand moved away the sweat covered locks of hair on his face.

“Shhh… Keith…”

Keith looked over to see silver strands frame a dark face above him. As Keith became accustomed to the light, he saw the moonlight hit her hair as the silver moon painted brightness across her face.

“… Allura..?”

“Keith…” She picked up Keith’s limp body in her arms and pulled him into a hug. She covered the both of them in Keith’s blanket and cradled him in her arms. The side of his face laid on her chest as she petted his matted hair. Allura soothed Keith’s senses. He felt a familiar motherly warmth as she spoke to him and washed away his fears.

“It’s going to be okay…

It’s going to be… okay…”

-

The grogginess still hadn’t escape Keith when he went to class after lunch. His body felt like they were filled with lead as he entered his lecture hall. Everything felt heavy, even his face that sagged due to the uncomfortable night sleep he had. He didn’t remember much of that night, didn’t want to either way.

 

* * *

 

He woke up in the morning in a daze; last night's dream made him unable to fall asleep peacefully. There wasn’t much to recollect on, the only thing Keith could recall was Allura dragging him back to bed and telling him to sleep. He woke up again around noon. Every feeling from his skin to his bones told him to not leave his bed, he didn’t have enough sleep. He did so anyways and started getting ready for class.

 

* * *

 

He walked down the stairs of his lecture hall, the colors around him passing in a blur. He walked on to his seat and sat down, feeling the weight inside him drop to the floor once he was settled in the chair. He wasn’t okay, no condition to be in a class, but he was there. The tired boy propped his elbows onto the table and settled his face in his hands. He heaved a troubled sigh, hoping that that could act as a catharsis for him.

It didn’t work.

He stayed there for a few minutes, letting the world drown out into nothingness. He closed his eyes and stared at the nothingness of his palms, the darkness closing in on him.

He didn’t know when he fell asleep, but it didn’t matter as he was awoken by a slam on his desk.

He looked up and was greeted with a girl and long locks of midnight hair. He had seen her a few times on campus. Whenever Keith saw her, she was either talking with another man or conversing with what seemed to be one of her female friends. Other then that, he had no idea who she was and why she was here.

“…May I… help you?”

She didn’t look very peachy. Her eyes narrowed after he was talking like they were assessing him. They probably were.

“Do you know me?”

Obviously not.

“Am I… Supposed to?”

“Do you know Lance?”

_‘Lance?’_

“Uh… Yes..?”

“Well that’s not good, is it?”

He was just getting more perplexed by the second.

“Uh… I-”

“Listen to me.”

“I am.”

“Shut up.”

She leaned in closer so that Keith had nowhere to look but into her eyes. She lowered her voice to a whisper so that only Keith could hear.

“ _I_ need _you_ to not know Lance. Got it?”

“But, why-”

“Don’t ask questions. Don’t talk to him. Ever again.”

“What do you really need?”

“ _I_ need _you_ to stay out of his way. The more you don’t meddle in his business, the more you don’t meddle into mine. Got it?”

“His business isn’t yours.”

“But you’re in mine.”

“That’s not for you to decide.”

“Shut up you whore.”

Keith couldn’t believe his ears. His tiredness was getting to him; he wasn’t even angry. He didn’t even say anything back, he just stood there awestruck, and a little hurt.

“Listen to-”

“THOSE WHO ARE NOT IN THIS CLASS GET OUT.” A booming voice echoed off the walls of the lecture hall and vibrated through the air. There was only one person the professor was talking about. They locked eyes as the girl readied her final words from Keith.

“Listen to what I say and stay out of my way.” She finished as she walked out the classroom. She passed the professor and made her way out while the professor was eyeing her all the way through.

Keith didn’t even know what was going on. He was just tired. Sad and tired. Everything had passed by before he could even comprehend it. His dream, that morning, the girl. It was a lot and he couldn’t take it anymore. So, he quit.

Keith picked up his stuff and started walking. As he passed his teacher on the steps the hunched over lady called his name.

“Keith?”

He turned to look back, his eyes were moist. The words were caught in his throat.

“Sorry.” And he sped out the classroom.

 

* * *

 

“It’s so sunny!” Lance said as he put a hand above his head to cover the sun from getting into his eyes.

“Yea it is, but don’t count on it in the next few hours.” Hunk replied while doing the same as Lance.

A cry erupted from the number one Memer. She pointed to a nearby pack of trees and yelled out.

“MEMERS TAKE COVER!!!!!!!!!”

The high school trio ran to the trees and sighed with relief once they were out of the sun. They were definitely Sanic fast. So fast that even their own breaths couldn’t keep up with them.

Lance doubled over to rest his hands on his knees while breathing deeply. He spoke in between breaths.

“What… Did you… Say?”

Hunk was under the shade, but it kind of looked like he wanted to go back to bathe in the sun.

“It’s going to rain in a few hours.”

“Oh yea, right. We’re entering rainy season aren’t we?” Pidge looked up from her seat on the ground to answer.

“Yea. We’re about to get tons of crazy rain.”

A sad frown began to erupt on Hunk’s face and his best man answered to that.

“You sad, Hunk?”

“Yea. Rain is nice and all, but I prefer Sun.”

“Well, you are a ball of sunshine.”

“Awwww. Thanks, Lance.”

Pidge rolled around in her grass kingdom in disgust. “EWE. Friendship.” Lance wasn’t going to let that slip by.

“What, Pidge?” A cocky smirk arose on his face as he cooed his next word. “ _Jealous?_ ”

She rolled her eyes while continuing to roll in her grass kingdom. She sighed in disgust. “Most definitely.”

“Now, now.” Hunk interrupted, being the peacemaker. “Let’s just sit on the grass and talk about normal stuff.”

“Already one step ahead of ya’.”

“He said sit not roll like pizza.”

“A what?”

“A pizza.”

“I heard you but pizzas-”

“Roll.”

“…”

“Pizza rolls.”

“Oh god. Don’t even start.”

“Ooo… That was good.” Hunk said, legitimately impressed. Pidge decided to stay out of the next conversation and left them to their devices.

“So Hunk, what’s new with you?”

“Nothing much, to be honest. You?”

“Same.”

“Didn’t you just go to a party last night?”

“Ha. OH YEA.”

“Lance.”

“Yea?”

“Spill.”

“Alright, alright.” He took a moment to recall the last night. “I saw this cute girl I met up earlier in the day but accidentally ditched. She’s really cute and-”

“Name?”

“People call her Brie but her real name is Baku.”

“And you call her Brie?”

“Yea.”

“Ooooo… Mysterious…”

 _“~Ooooo… Mysterious…~”_ Pidge spewed out in a mocking tone. The boys paid no heed.

“Anyways, I met up with her, and we started flirting. A little.”

“A little?”

“Okay, a bit. And she’s really cool and I think I like her.”

“Really? It has only been a day.”

“Yea, I know, but I don’t know. She’s cute and we can have good conversations and…”

“WOW. PERFECT MATCH.”

“HUSH, YOU.” Lance threw a hand to silence the Pidgeon on the floor. He looked back at Hunk and continued.

“So, I don’t know. We hit it off though, so I think it’s good. I said I was _definitely_ going to see her later and she agreed so WOOOOOOO.” Lance cried out his victory screech while throwing both arms in the air.

“That’s great, Lance.”

“Yea, yea. Did you meet anyone else?” Pidge sat up to join the rest and made a triangle.

“Oh, yea. I saw Keith.”

“YOU SAW KEITH?”

“Uh… Yea...?”

“DID HE RUN AWAY?”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP.

“I WILL EXPOSE YOU.”

“WITH WHAT? MEMES?”

“BET.” Pidge said as she held up her phone to reveal a picture of Lance covered in a face mask, dancing in booty shorts. In his hand was a can of Fabreeze© air freshener that he was using as a microphone. It was from one of his private singing sessions he had when he was alone.

Lance couldn’t believe his eyes. He clutched his heart in pain.

“Pidge… How could you do this to me..? WHERE DID YOU EVEN GET THAT?!?!”

“It’s my blackmail material, but I wouldn’t mind using it now!” She said as she waved the phone around. Lance tried to snatch the phone but to no avail.

“GIVE IT BACK!!! DELETE IT!!!!!!!!!”

“I’M THE MEME QUEEN AND YOU CAN’T STOP ME!!!!!!!!! MAWHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Lance tackled Pidge and started wrastling with her. He put his arms around her body as she tried to kick out and escape. Lance moved his face in to bite the phone out of her hand, but she saw ahead of that and slammed the phone into his face.

“OWW!!!”

“IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT?”

“TAKING IT SLOW BUT IT’S NOT TYPICAL.”

Pidge and Lance stop to look at Hunk that randomly started saying song lyrics out of nowhere.

“What?” They both didn’t move and stayed in their same weird wrastling position as Hunk kept reciting song lyrics.

“HE ALREADY KNOWS THAT MY LOVE IS FIRE.”

“Uh… Hunk?” Pidge questioned while still shoving the phone in Lance’s face.

“HIS HEART WAS A STONE, BUT HIS HANDS ROAMED.”

“Uh…”

“I TURNED HIM TO GOLD AND I TOOK HIM HIGHER.”

“…”  

“OH, I'LL BE YOUR DAYDREAM, I'LL WEAR YOUR FAVORITE THINGS.”

“Hunk?”

“WE COULD BE BEAUTIFUL.”

“HUNK?”

“Yeeeeeesssssssssss..?” Hunk letting out a deep breath while letting his word trail on.

“Why were you singing?” Lance asked, moving his face away from the phone.

“I wanted you guys to stop fighting.”

Well, it worked. Lance separated himself and resettled back into his sitting spot. Pidge resettled herself too and stored her phone in her back pocket. Lance wasn’t going to let that slide, but that was an argument for another day.

“Soooo, you saw Keith?”

“Huh, oh yea. He was at the party too.”

“Really? Keith was at a party?” Pidge sat cross-legged with her elbows on her knees, and her chin resting on the back of her hand. She cocked her eyebrow at Lance, waiting for an answer.

“Yep. And he was drinking.”

“Wow. I wouldn’t imagine Keith to go to a party.” Hunk said as he stared at the grass.

“Well,” Pidge interjected. “This _is_ college.”

“Well… Yea… But I don’t know…”

“Well, maybe he has some party in him.” Lance sat back and let his body fall on the grass. It was calming, being with his friends again and talking about nothing important. The leaves above him blocked out the sun and made his skin feel cool. He closed his eyes and let the wind blow.

“Hey, isn’t that Keith?”

Lance sat up and turned his head with Hunk’s to see who Pidge was talking about. He wasn’t far, but he was tiny in their viewfinder.  There was no mistaking it though.

“Huh. That is him. Good eye.”

“It was just a guestimate.” She shrugged it off. “But what is he doing?”

They all stared at Keith. He was just speeding off away from some building.

“Where is he going?” Hunk questioned.

“I don’t know… But gotta’ go fast, ya’ know?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Laughs erupted from all around, and they kept talking without worry

under the shade of the tree.

 

* * *

 

It was around five when Lance came out of his class. As he walked outside the clouds were rolling in and covering the sun’s rays.

 _‘Hunk was right.’_ Lance commented as he walked home. He thought about Baku, he was love-struck in a cute, teenagerish sort of way. Thinking about anything else would have been a bore. He walked on but was stopped by the vibrating feel in his pocket.

_‘Weird… I’m not expecting a text from anyone.’_

He grabbed his phone from his pocket and unlocked the screen.

 **Unidentified Number:** Can I trust you?

_‘Uh…’_

**Lance:** new phone who dis?

 **Unidentified Number:** Shiro.  

_‘Shiro?’_

**Lance:** Shiro?

 **Unidentified Number:** Yea.

 **Lance:** Uh hey Shiro. Whay do you need?

 **Unidentified Number:** Listen, can you do me a favor?

_‘A favor? Why would he ask me?’_

**Lance:** Depends?

 **Unidentified Number:** Okay, well…

Shiro kept typing and Lance waited for his response. It must have been a long one because he waited two whole minutes for a single text. It turned out he was right.

 **Unidentified Caller:** I don’t want to turn this into a big deal, so that’s why I contacted you. My car is missing, which rarely happens, and when I went to my apartment, I noticed my spare key was missing. Allura wasn’t home so either Keith took it or someone broke in to take my key. I called Keith because he was supposed to be home, but he didn’t pick up. I called him a couple of times but they all went to voicemail. So right now, I think Keith took it, but he wouldn’t have a reason to. So, I think he’s in trouble.

Lance waited for more but nothing came, it was his turn.

 **Lance:** So… You want me…

 **Unidentified Number:** Help find him.

_‘Weird.’_

**Lance:** Uh… Okay… Question.

 **Unidentified Number:** Shoot.

 **Lance:** Why can’t your friends help? And why me?

 **Unidentified Number:** Again I don’t want this to be a big thing and we’re all on duty now so it would be weird. All my other friends are busy and you…

He kept typing, it was like he was trying to word his sentences correctly.

 **Unidentified Number:** I trust you. I don’t know you, but I trust you. I know some people might not see you in the same way

_‘Allura’_

**Unidentified Number:** but you haven’t done anything bad, and I know that. Those things with Keith were private and I can respect that. You’re just a normal guy that does normal stuff. Right now I don’t have anyone else so, will you do this for me?

 _‘Ugh’_ Lance didn’t want to turn this kid down but he didn’t know what to do.

 **Lance:** Alright alright. I’ll help you find him.

 **Unidentified Number:** Thank you so much, Lance.

 **Lance:** Yea, I’ll look around and try to find him.

 **Unidentified Number:** Okay, great. Text me if anything comes up.

 **Lance:** k.

It looked like Lance wasn’t going straight home this time.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm adding more song lyrics because song lyrics are life. Anyways I made a pun in the last sentence. kek. seeya 
> 
> EDIT: THE SONG IS ROSES BY CHAINSMOKERS YAAAAAAAA


	6. Rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Published: June 24th, 2017
> 
> if u thought this chapter was gonna be titled 'Storm' then lmao no sorry

Lance went around, asking if anyone had seen a small black car and a sad, emo kid inside. Shiro told him a very good description of his car, but Lance decided to keep it discreet.

Surprisingly, people _did_ see the car. They noted that it kind of made a few weird turns before creeping off campus. They even noted that the car went right into the old part of the city instead of left, the way which everyone went. _Almost_ everyone.

Lance ran to the parking lot to retrace Keith’s steps. He ran out of the parking lot and onto the street to the right. The sidewalks and streets were fairly old. Compared to the new streets in the city, these streets were certainly put to shame.

After around 5 minutes of running, he slowed down into a speed-walk, then into a walk.

_‘Shit. Where am I?’_

He was definitely lost. He had walked upon a part of the city that had been abandoned for years. Old factories with a few trees and an old basketball court. It could have just been old, but Lance knew it was abandoned. The vines of plants tangled with each other on the roofs of buildings and draped down into soft, quiet waterfalls. Grass grew out in spurs and were shown in between the cracks of the street the sidewalks.

_‘This place is totally sketchy.’_

Lance told himself, apprehension gaining speed on him.

_‘Is Keith really here?’_

More clouds were rolling in and the scared boy decided to walk back. Not the abandon his mission, but to just go to a place that didn’t look like there would be a ghost in a 3-meter radius.

Lance walked into a place that looked like it was only abandoned for 10 years, not 30. There was a neighborhood that was completely empty. The houses were hollow; Lance knew even from the outside. They weren’t houses anymore, just ghosts of them.

The trees above him made light shadows that became darker the longer he stared at them. They were intertwined with one another and looked like a number of things that he didn’t want to think about. Nets… Hands… People…

The mere thought of any of them coming to life turned a lock of the wind across the back of his neck into a shiver.

Lance was getting anxious. He had to find Keith soon. He didn’t really want to even though he agreed at his own volition. It was just the thought of Keith being alone made him keep going- _even if the thought of dying in crusty neighborhood seemed unnerving._

His resources were limited- _not like he had many in the first place_ -but the way of finding Keith was narrowed down to one, final, decision.

“KEEEEEIIIIIITHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” He yelled out, cupping his hands around his mouth. He burst into a sprint to find the lost the lost child.

“KEEEEITTTHHH!!! WHERE ARE YOUUUU????” He ran down the block and to the next block and did the same thing again.

“KEEEEEEFFFFFFFFF!!!!!!” While running, he almost tripped because of an uprooted tree, but he didn’t.

“KEEeEEIIIiiiIIiiITTTttHHHH!!!!!!!” He ran and ran and ran and

“OH FUCK.” fell into a fence while trying to turn the next corner.

“Ugh… Oh god…” He groaned, trying to pull himself off of the ground. He turned his head to relieve some pain that occurred when he fell and his eyes targeted a spot in between two houses. Something shined in his eye, black. It looked like… A car.

He crossed the street to the next block and did the same for the block after that. He turned the corner and was presented with a grand saloon sized car with a shiny, black coat.

The car was in the parking lot of an abandoned supermarket. The sign was too damaged and trashed to read. Not to mention that half of it was on the ground instead of on the store.

It was kind of suspicious, a new, shiny car in the middle of an abandoned parking lot that could have hidden a number of criminals in the shadows, but it _had_ to be Keith.

He ran to the car. From a distance, he could see that the driver’s seat was empty.

_‘Did he really leave the car?’_

He ran to the driver’s seat’s window. Putting his hands on the glass he peered in, but there was no one in the front seats. That didn’t distract him from the fluff of hair in the back seat though. He looked at the back seats through the window and saw a lonely child sitting on the floor of the right seat.

It was Keith.

“Keith!” Lance yelled through the window, both hands on the car. Keith didn’t move. He was on the floor, his legs hugged against his chest, and his face was hidden in his knees.

“Keith!” He yelled again, hand holding onto the door handle and pulling it out. The door didn’t budge. It was locked. It seems like after a problem is solved, another one pops up.

“Keith…” He didn’t stur at all. He was huddled all alone on the floor. Lance couldn’t have imagined what went through Keith’s head but he could guess that they weren’t happy thoughts. Keith, all alone in a car in an abandoned neighborhood away from everyone else… Keith was so vulnerable. The mood of everything started making _Lance_ feel vulnerable… Keith… He was someone Lance had never dealt with before.

_‘Is he really asleep?’_

Lance rested his head on the top of the car and closed his eyes. He let a deep breath trail out. It wasn’t that big of a deal, he just had to wait till Keith woke up.

He slid down the car and rested his back on the door. The coldness of the door was calming, it felt like a nicely deserved reward after all that running and emotional stress he just went through. He pulled his knees in and closed his eyes.

 

* * *

 

Keith awoke to a bad neck ache as he got up from the car floor. Every part of him was sore as he seated himself onto the back seat of the car. Being in an uncomfortable position through a nap wasn’t the best idea. He rested his back on the seat and rolled his neck so his face pointed to the ceiling. His eyes were closed as he rested for a few more moments before moving again.

Even with his eyes closed, he could tell it was fairly gray outside. The rain clouds must have rolled in fully by then. It was going to rain soon. Keith took one final breath out as he slid to the left across the seats to the door. He pulled on the handle and pushed out, but he struggled.

There was a weight against his door.

_‘..?’_

Keith pushed harder with more enthusiasm, and whatever that was in his way slid to the side. He peeked out the window and saw a man laying on the ground. It looked like he was asleep, but he started stirring.

“Mmm…” The man started to wake up as Keith jumped back into the car, surprised by the moving life form.

He stayed inside the safe haven of the car while the man outside woke up and appeared in front of his door. He put a hand on the roof of the car as he bent down to peer inside. Keith wasn’t prepared for this.

“Keith?”

“Lance?” He couldn’t believe his eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh. You’re awake now. That’s good.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Your question..? Oh, yea. Uh… What was it again?”

Keith sighed as his patience ran out. He just woke up from a nap, but sometimes his patience just runs very thin. “I said, 'what are you doing here'?”

“Here? I was looking for you.”

Keith’s face scrunched up as he heard Lance’s last word. “Me? Why were you looking for me?”

“Shiro asked me to. I mean, you basically stole his car and all.”

Well, he couldn’t deny. “Oh. Right…” He looked away in a kind of embarrassed, shameful manner. Lance didn’t ignore it.

“Hey, it’s okay. I don’t know what you’re so down about but it’s going to be okay.”

_‘That’s what they all say.’_

“What?”

He looked at Lance in shock as he just realized what he did. “Did you hear that?”

“Yea.”

Keith tried to make an excuse, but he couldn’t think of any. “Just forget it.”

“… Alright. Anyways, I’m here to take you back.”

“Back?”

“Back home?”

“Home?”

“Uh, Yea?”

“To your place?”

“Wha- No. _Your_ place.”

“You know where I live?”

“You don’t?”

“Ugh, Lance, that’s not what I meant.”

“Then what _did_ you mean?”

“You know where I live?”

“Yea?”

“How?”

“Shiro.”

“Why would Shiro tell you where I live?”

“Um… Did you forget what happened last night?”

“… Did something happen?”

“Yea. I drove you home.”

A moment of silence passed as Keith stared at Lance dumbfounded.

“You _did?_ ”

“Yea. Did you forget?”

“Umm…” Keith tried to recall but everything was black. He remembered going to a house, having a few drinks, crying and seeing Allura, then going back to sleep… He spoke again, only this time, hesitantly.

“Did you… Uh…”

“Did I..?”

“Do anything… Weird?”

“Weird?” Lance questioned. Keith’s face became warm and the color shown through as he stayed silent. It stayed like that for a minute until Lance decided to question him himself.

“Keith, what do you-” And then the epiphany hit him. Soon enough, Lance’s face started to warm up to. “Oh, god no! I did- No- I mean- I didn’t, but…”

Keith felt his cheeks burn even more. _‘He didn’t… but..?’_

Lance sighed and composed himself. “I’m sorry.”

Keith could only wonder what he meant. “Sorry? For what?”

“I don’t know… But I guess I must've messed up somewhere.”

“Lance?”

“Yea?”

“What happened last night?”

He breathed in and out, ready to recite every truth of that night to not create any more misunderstandings. “I saw you at a party and you were drinking. I saw you and we talked for a bit, but you fell asleep on me while we were talking. I contacted Shiro and he gave me your address and I drove you home. That’s it.”

“So, you didn’t-”

“Yea. I didn’t do anything.”

He rested his back on the back seats as relief swept through him. He could feel the sweat flow as he cooled down. He didn’t say anything. Neither did Lance. They stayed there in silence, even until it became unbearable. And then, it became too unbearable. Keith looked out the right window and saw that the gray clouds were getting even darker and darker. There was no sun in sight, and with the way the clouds were darkening, it would basically be night in a few hours.

He was comfortable the way he was, sitting in a car looking at the clouds, but he knew comfortable things wouldn’t last. He said one more thing before he moved out the car.

“Lance?”

“Yea?”

“I’m sorry.” He was just as confused as Keith a few minutes ago.

“Oookay, what are _you_ sorry about?”

“For not trusting you.”

Lance chuckled and Keith patience was so thin it practically concaved into itself.

“What are you laughing about?”

“Well, obviously. We just met yesterday after 4 years.” He had a point.

“… Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. Let’s just get you out of there.”

Keith agreed. He didn’t want to get into any more awkward conversations. He slid on the seats and planted a foot on the ground as he gathered himself and went out the car. He stood fully, and stared up at Lance while he stared down at Keith. The height difference was uncanny. They kind of started at each other awkwardly for a bit before one of them said anything.

“Alright, let’s get you home, kid.”

“Kid?”

“Sometimes I feel like I’m babysitting you.” Keith pouted in annoyance and Lance tried to hide his chuckles but failed. He had a point, _again_ . But he wasn’t mad that he was right, just that out of all people it was _Lance_.

Keith changed the topic before it was too late. “Oh, and um… You’re driving, right?”

“I guess. Did you want to?”

“Uh, not really. I don’t… Really know how.”

“But you drove here, didn’t you?”

Keith looked at the ground while playing with the hem of his sleeve. Lance’s eyes were the size of saucers as he stared at Keith.

“OH MY GOD. KEITH.”

Keith was totally not comfortable at that point. “Can we just go already?” He said, shuffling his feet.

It took Lance a full 10 seconds to respond. He snapped out of it once he saw tears form in Keith’s eyes. This was definitely not one of his finest days.

They both entered the car and sat in the front seat with Lance at the wheel. This girl was a _beauty_. Leather padding, smooth dashboards-not made of that weird bump plastic, heated seats.

 _‘If Keith crashed this thing the cost…’_ Lance quickly shook his head to get out of that thought. Keith saw, but didn’t question. Lance turned on the car, put it in drive, and started riding.

 

* * *

 

They were on the road but didn’t say much. They cruised past the abandoned houses, trying to find their way back to civilization. Keith’s apartment was already far enough from the university as it is, but since they were in the opposite direction of where people normally occupied the city, that made the ride even longer.

It was awkward for awhile, not saying anything when there was usually so much, but they accepted it and tried to enjoy the silence.

It was already eerie due to their location anyways.

Keith was in the passenger seat to his right. His body was relaxed but close guarded. It was like Keith had an invisible boundary to keep people out. Lance could see it, but he didn't know if Keith did. His arms were around his stomach loosely as he stared out the window. They gray outside casted soft shadows on his skin that were like tears that weren’t seen. His hair hung loosely in framed his emotionless face. The persona of loneliness around him made Lance feel… sad…

Lance turned back to the road and continued driving. The streets were endless. He was driving through blocks of old, blocks of wreckage, but there wasn’t an end in sight. The water finally fell from the sky as it started to rain. The soft patter of the rain bounced off the windshield and slid off the car. More rain fell as it progressed and grew stronger. It was all nothingness, but Lance continued to feel the rain fall down and wash away.

It was a beautiful silence. The way the rain fell and added dimension to the buildings. It brought back the activity that was in those neighborhoods from so long ago, even though there was no one there but Lance and the kid sitting next to him. It was eerie, spooky, in a way, but to Lance, water was his element, and this scene he was seeing, was beautiful.

He didn’t know how many blocks he had passed, how many minutes had flown by, but everything broke- _no_ -froze, when he heard the person next to him speak.

“He was good to me.”

Lance was almost shocked to hear Keith, no, he _was_ shocked to hear Keith speak. He didn’t think he would hear a single word on the way back. Didn’t expect any anyway. But, the way Keith said it… Devoid of emotion… Lance wanted to reply back, to ask and find out what he meant, but would he dare shatter the mood of it all? He didn’t.

“He was stressed, that’s all. He tried his best, and that was good enough for me, but…”

Lance waited. It was getting hard to breathe, unbeknownst to him that he was holding in his breath the whole time. The air was heavy, even when he let it go. Everything stood still as he waited for Keith to speak again.

“… Sometimes… The best got to him… And it brought out his worst…”

Lance listened on. His eyes on the road, but his focus never left Keith.

“I loved him.”

Lance held his breath again.

“Even when he gave me reasons not to.”

Lance had to break it, even if it would ruin everything.

“Who?”

“My father.”

_‘Oh god…’_

“You loved him?”

“As a father. Nothing more.”

_‘Oh…’_

“But he was good to me!” Keith shouted as he turned to face Lance. The loudness surprised Lance as he looked back at him. His voice yearned like it wanted to be heard. Redness rimmed his eyes as he stared back. Years of tiredness and mixed emotions showed on his face as he cracked under the weight of the world. Lance could only stare out in front of him and reply with a choked breath.

“I know.”

Keith relaxed and looked back down at nothing. Lance couldn’t see him, but he could feel the tears fall down his face. He knew Keith was crying, and he let him be.

 

* * *

 

It wasn’t long till they found their way back. The rain poured on in even heavier layers but visibility was still manageable. It was dark out, the grays were replaced with dark blues that painted the sky and stretched on. The only thing lighting up the night was the lights of the buildings in the city.

The headlights of the car shined on, clearing the darkness so the drive could continue. The yellow and white artificial lights crept into the car and leaped across Lance’s face as he ignored them and carried on.

It was like any other car ride in the city in the rain, but also, not at all. The feelings inside the car weren’t normal feelings, just ones filled with the loneliness and sadness of decades suppressed into a mere few years.

It was a suffocating really, but it was a human truth.

Lance drove on and stop light in front of him turned red, making him obligated to stop. He sat back in his seat, Hands off the steering wheel and foot on the break. He let the sounds of droplets hitting the car flow into him and wash the day away. The streets light partially blinded him, but when he closed his eyes, the eyesores went away, and he was left with… The darkness...

“Lance?”

He opened his right eye to take a quick peek at Keith but shut it a second later. He continued staring at the darkness.

“Yea?”

“Can you do me a favor?”

“What is it?”

“I don’t want to go home. Not yet.”

Lance sat there, waiting for more words to come out, but they never did.

He opened his eyes and saw the green light shine in front of him. He took his foot off the brake and onto the gas and started to accelerate.

“Could I… Go to your place?”

Lance looked at Keith as everything around him moved on. The buildings, the lights, they all faded and danced colors around him, trying to pull his focus away and onto the street, but Lance could only look at Keith.

“... Okay.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tri to give u chapter tomorrow. I didn't write yet and it will be impossible because of my schedule it cray, but i try to pull it out of my booty oki? I luuuvvv uuuuuuu ❤️


	7. He was...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Published: June 25th, 2017
> 
> c? i told u id pull this chapter out of my boot. enjoy!

Lance unlocked the door of his apartment and entered, holding the door for Keith so he could enter too. They were hit with a familiar warmness as the heating touched their faces and warmed them up, shooing the coldness of the rain away. Their cheeks pinked slowly at the contact. He took off his shoes and Keith did the same and they both entered the living area.

“There’s the living room.” Lance said as he walked into the kitchen leaving Keith alone to wander. “You can sit and watch TV or whatever. The remote should be on the table somewhere. Or the floor, same thing. I have to take care of something for a bit.”

It was so weird to him, talking so normally after having such a heartfelt moment only minutes and hours before. Maybe it was a way for him to make everything normal, or not, he didn’t know. He leaned on the counter in his kitchen, back facing the living room. He left Keith to do his thing while he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He unlocked the screen, bright white and blue lights shone on his face as he typed.

 **Lance:** Hey Shiro ? 

He was greeted with a text a second later.

 **Shiro:** Hey Lance. did you find him?

 **Lance:** Yea. But the thing is…

 **Shiro:** Oh no what happened

 **Lance:** Nothing! Nothing happened it's just

 **Shiro:** Yea?

 **Lance:** Keith doesn’t want to go home

 **Shiro:** What? Why?

 **Lance:** I don’t know. I didn’t ask him.

 **Shiro:** So where is he now?

Lance didn’t know if it was the time to say it, but the truth always got out and he’d rather have it out and in front of Shiro right now.

 **Lance:** He’s uh… he’s at my house.

 **Shiro:** …

 **Lance:** Shiro?

 **Shiro:** Lance…

 **Lance:** Yea..?

 **Shiro:** You know I trust you right?

 **Lance:** Yea…

 **Shiro:** Are you…

 **Lance:**..?

 **Shiro:** Are you going to do anything that’s going to make me not trust you anymore?

Lance couldn’t believe what he read.

 **Lance:** OH my god nO!!!

His fingers were jumbling up as he started increasing his speed.

 **Lance:** I would never evee ever ever doi anything like that to keith

Lance took a deep breath as he relaxed himself.

 **Lance:** Ever.

 **Shiro:** Alright. I trust you. Just…

 **Lance:** What

 **Shiro:** take care of him. Please.

Lance knew he couldn’t say no to that.

 **Lance:** Okay.

 **Shiro:** Thanks. I worry about him, that’s all.

 **Lance:** I can tell.

 **Shiro:** haha yea…. But really Lance, thanks.

Lance shoved the phone in his pocket, face a little red.

 _‘To trust or not to trust, that is the question. He said he trusts me, then he questions me! Ugh, whatever.’_ It was okay, Lance wouldn’t dawdle on it for long. He turned around to peer into the living room.

“Hey Keith-” Eyes scanned the room as he looked for Keith but he was nowhere to be seen.

 _‘What the heck? Where did he go?’_ He went out the kitchen and into the living room. His eyes scanned every corner but the kid was nowhere to be found. Keith didn’t leave a trace; it was like he was never there in the first place. 

“Keith?” There were only 2 more rooms he could be in, the bathroom or his bedroom. The bathroom light was off, so he went to his bedroom. The door was open, which was usually closed, so he had to be in there. He walked to his own doorway, looking for answers.

“Ke-” When he reached the door, he saw him, but it stopped his heart. Keith was alone, sleeping in his bed with the blanket wrapped around him like a cocoon.

Lanced stopped and eased himself onto the doorway, he leaned his head on the wood and stared at Keith.

Keith was still in his jacket, but he didn’t seem to mind; he was sleeping like a baby. His hair laid effortlessly on his head and his body relaxed into the bed as he drifted away in his sleep. Lance saw such venerable sides of Keith that day that this scene made his heart break. He could only imagine what Keith went through, what he saw, what he heard, what he endured, but he couldn’t really know.

Even with the rain outside and the war inside his head, he was still able to stay human. His soft expression that showed as he slept was what made him look… so… alive. 

Keith alone was so lonely, yet him like this in his bed sleeping soundly, looked so peaceful. Lance couldn’t help but feel sad, being seeing Keith so comfortable after all he went through made him smile. 

_“Good night.”_

And he turned off the light.

 

* * *

 

Lance awoke the next morning from his bed and sat up to stretch. His dimly lit room cooed him back to sleep but he refused that notion. He spread his arms out and stretched, releasing inaudible noises. 

“Ugh…” He rested his face in his hands and he waited for the sleep to fade. He turned around to see the other side of the bed.

“Keith?” But he wasn’t there.

Whatever that was left of his sleep was now gone as he looked around. He got up and moved his head frantically around the room.

“Keith??” He yelled a little louder.

He ran out the room, tripping, but he recovered himself.

“Ke-” And there he was, sitting on his couch. He froze, then relaxed as he realized Keith didn’t leave or get himself lost again. He stood, catching his breath.

Keith was sitting on the couch while laying on his side and resting his head on the top of where the couch ended. He was in a lazy position, staring at the gray sky in a melancholy silence as the rain poured down the window pane.

Lance walked into the kitchen, putting on slippers that he left by the doorway. He went to his counter and turned on his coffee maker, waiting for it to warm up.

He leaned on the counter and looked at Keith. Lonely, sad, depressed… They were all words to describe Keith. But this time, something was different…

His eyes adjusted to the light and he saw everything clearly. It was like Keith was in a state of alleviating the stress in his soul. He laid limp on the couch, devoid of emotion, but he spoke a thousand words. The emptiness of his soul was filled by the spring rain and brought out a storm that raged inside of him, yet, it was nowhere to be seen. 

The loneliness around his was like the sea, if someone got too close, they would get washed away, and would never come back again for the fear being caught in something that would be too much trouble to them.

The world was just washing him away, hidden and hiding all the things he didn’t want anyone to see, and yet, he was okay with getting swept.

It was breathtaking. 

All the things Lance saw in the past two days would never leave him. How could they? They changed him. Changed because he never had to deal with it before, and he had to now.

Keith was getting swallowed, but he was okay. Getting swallowed by the dark pit of memories that hadn’t plagued his mind in years, until now.  

Without speaking he spoke a thousand words, but his emotions spoke a thousand more.

But under all the things that made up Keith, and all the things that surrounded him, he was only a boy.

Yet, in that moment that Lance was there, watching Keith,

In that moment, Keith was beautiful.

He was in another world, getting swept away by the water, running with the wind, flowing in the air, yet he was sitting, alone on the couch in the silence in the rain.

The sadness of it all consumed Lance again. He was brought back to Earth where a lonely boy was sitting on his couch staring at the rain, and all he could do was stare. Keith was a room away, but he felt like a foot away from a touch.

Under the darkness and light of the sky, the rain made shadows of droplets that dripped down his face. Keith sat there, watching the rain, unbeknownst to it all.

He was breathtaking, he was beautiful, but he was also…

_Untouchable._

 

* * *

 

Lance was parked outside of Keith’s apartment building. Keith had already left ten minutes ago to go back to his room but Lance didn’t move. He felt tired. He felt like he had aged fifteen years in two days.

He closed his eyes with his body relaxed and listened to the water that ran down his car.

He loved the water, it was his element. It made him feel so many emotions, yet none at all. It had so many meanings and feelings that Lance felt like he could relate in a way he couldn’t with other people. And it was so smooth and cool under his skin, he loved it. _Reveled_ in it.

But today, he felt old, and the rain agreed.

He closed his eyes as he laid lifeless in his seat. The quiet rain dripping down, splashing, laughing, crying, but not making a sound. A blissful Spring rain filled with _loneliness_.

A vibration ran through his thigh, a signal from his pocket. He took out his phone without even opening his eyes and unlocked it. He looked at his screen.

 **Shiro:** Thanks so much. I’m glad to have Keith back home.

 **Lance:** No problem.

 **Shiro:** But really, I owe you a big one.

 **Lance:** It’s okay, don’t sweat it.

 **Shiro:** No really, I do. I can’t thank you enough. And one more thing?

 **Lance:** Yea?

 **Shiro:** When can I come over to get my car?

 **Lance:** Any time is good. I’ll be in my apartment all day since it’s Saturday.

 **Shiro:** Alright, cool. I’ll come over later.

Lance had nothing more to say. Well… Just one.

 **Lance:** Hey Shiro?

 **Shiro:** Yes?

 **Lance:** Is Allura there?

 **Shiro:** With me right now? No. Why, did you need her?

Lance laughed to himself, awkwardly.

 **Lance:** No, it’s just that she said I would ‘regret’ getting near Keith again

 **Shiro:** Oh… Uh…

It took an entire minute for Shiro to respond. A minute of Lance staring at dots on his screen passed before he received an actual response.

 **Shiro:** Look, she means no harm. She just… Gets on edge sometimes. She really cares about Keith, more than you think. More than you know. And sometimes, she just gets really protective.

 **Lance:** No excuse to be a dick to me.

 **Shiro:** Yea, you’re right, and im sorry about that. She’s just like that you know? Sometimes you just can’t change people.

Lance repeated those last few words in his mind _“you just can’t change people.”_ before typing again.

 **Lance:** So, I should just never talk to Keith again? Just for Allura’s sake?

 **Shiro:** I’m not saying that

 **Lance:** Then what are you saying?

 **Shiro:** Try to avoid Keith when he's in front of Allura.

 **Lance:** But she’s always with him.

 **Shiro:** I know, sorry…

 **Lance:** So basically, just ignore him? forever?

 **Shiro:**  Sorry… Maybe she’ll get over it? But we can only see.

 **Lance:** ... Ok.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY  
> Edit: i lonely add comments pls ily ❤️
> 
> Edit: July 18, 2017 
> 
> I was about to piss myself because i was editing this chapter by mixing it with another chapter and i lost like 1/3 of the work so i was about to freak but iii found ittttt :D


	8. New Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Published: July 2nd, 2017
> 
> This was only half the chapter i was planning to post but Un, I didn't evem write the whole thing and its 11:11 at night Deux, if i finished the whole thing would be 10k words and i'm not about that. Anyways, enjoy these 4k! <3

It had been a week since Lance last saw Keith. He already apologized for what happened in high school so there wasn’t really a need to see him. It wasn’t like he was wanted near him anyways.

With that incident from the past put to rest, he was finally at peace with the thing that had been itching in his head for so long. This gave him to to get accustomed to the campus, his classes, and new campus life. He had classes in the morning (which he dreaded) and had the whole afternoon off to hang around. It was pretty relaxing for him, just getting a feel for the campus and such.

He loved walking on campus. There were lots of trees that gave shade and the Spring breeze was pleasant. He walked with his regular, slightly worn jacket and strolled through the campus at a calming pace.

The wind blew his short brown hair with hints of a nice, sharp, coolness. He closed his eyes for a bit to enjoy the breeze that went his way. He looked up to the sky to see clear blue, the shade of water when it flowed and lands in pools. The brightness radiated throughout the entire sky that painted the canvas with the mood of a bright and sunny forever. A few fluffy, white clouds dotted the sky in an unsystematic pattern and moved in sway with the wind. It wasn’t going to last long. There was supposed to be some light drizzles during the night. Another night of dark skies and rain, just like last week.

~~Just like last week when he picked up Keith and he~~

He shook his head, trying to get rid of the thought of _him_. He wasn’t in his life anymore, and that was final.

It just bothered him that he was ‘forced’ to stay away from Keith because of _Allura_. He had no connection to Keith and they were in different majors so they wouldn’t be close to each other anyways, but _Allura._

Lance shivered at the thought of thinking of her and mentally slapped himself.

He kept walking, finding difficulty in trying to search for different topics to put his mind on. He couldn’t think of any, but then he saw her.

He cocked a smile and started walking to two girls that were talking next to a lamppost. He didn’t know them that well, but he knew them enough. He got closer and the girl facing his way saw him and notified her friend with a look. The girl with her back faced to him turned and smiled.

“Hey.” He said smiling to the both of them.

“Hey.” Baku replied back, smiling back.

“Shit.” Luxia said, looking into the distance.

Baku crinkled her eyebrows in worry. “Is something wrong?”

“Yea. I had to go meet with someone. Text you later! See ya Lance!” She turned to run away, but when she was facing only him, he saw her wink.

They saluted each other in their imaginations. He watched her run off and put a hand on his heart, using his other hand to wipe the imaginary tear in his mind.

 _‘Damn.’_ She was one of the best wing-woman he had ever seen.

“So, Brie. What’s new with you?” He questioned, looking back at her.

“Nothing much. You?” His cheeks broke in light hues of pink as she looked back into his eyes, tender and sensitive browns staring at his reflective crystal blue.

“Ahh… not much. Not much going around huh?”

“Haha… Well actually…”

“Yea?”

“So, listen. I actually got into this fight with my aunt right?”

“Yea, go on.”

“Ok, so, she said some shit about me finding a job and finding a dude to like marry and all that stuff but… It’s so stupid! Like, why does she even care? And she keeps saying stuff about arranged marriages and being a virgin and blah blah blah. I guess it’s like, an Asian thing? But UGH it’s so stupid.” She rolled her eyes and heaved out a huff while throwing her arms out.

“Wow. You have it rough.” Eyes widening. He couldn’t imagine how it was with her, couldn’t really empathize either way.

“Yea, I know.” She sighed again, before becoming more animated and looked at him. “Is there really nothing new with you?”

“No, not much. I’ve only been getting used to my schedule and stuff. I have to find a place to work but that’s whatever.”

Baku raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Really? So you’re saying that in an _entire_ week, last time since I saw you, nothing happened. No drama, people or problems have popped up in an entire week?” She said, elbowing with a cocky grin.

Lance smiled at her and looked off into the distance. “Well……” He said, scratching the back of his head.

“Ah ha! I knew you had it in you!” She said, smiling even wider. Lance looked back at her and smiles wider too, but then became self-conscious. She was cute, he couldn’t deny, he knew he liked her…

He cleared his throat and continued. He couldn’t get rid of the pink on his face but at least he could finish his sentence. “So…” He groaned inside, the only thing he could remember involved Allura and Keith. Two people he was trying to get off his mind.

“So..?”

“Oh, uh” Lance cleared his throat again, having her stare at him made him more flustered than before. “Okay, so… I knew this dude for awhile but I didn’t really, like, _know_ him in like a friend type of way. I started talking to him again and like it was awkward for a while but then, one of his friends comes in and put an imperial ban on me. Like, I can’t even hang out with this kid…” Lance continued talking, but Baku wasn’t facing him. He would know, she would look up to meet his gaze, but she was eye level with something in the distance. It kind of looked like she was still staring at him, but her gaze was… Offset. He continued anyways.

“and… like, what’s her deal? Like this dude is a grown ass man. He can do whatever the fuck he once. He’s… not… her…” Lance slowed down as he saw Baku’s face transitioned from a stare, to a glare, to a scowl. It was frightening, seeing someone that was always lively show an expression of true disgust.

“Brie?” She didn’t even move. Her gaze was set, whatever she was looking at.

“Brie, are you still with me?” That snapped her out of her transfixed stare. She bobbed her head a bit, eyes wide when responding to Lance.

“Uh, yea. So, what about the kid?” Lance scrunched his eyebrows. What did she mean ‘yea?’

“What were you even looking at?” Lance turned around to see what she saw and he saw… Keith?

“Brie?” He looked back at her.

“Yea?” She looked back at him.

“Were you staring at that kid?” He questioned, watching her every move.

“Ugh. Yea.” That scowl reappeared on her face, like a dark creature coming from the depths of a lake to the surface.

“Woah, you don’t look stoked.”

She sighed, relaxing her body and slumping a bit. “Yea…”

“What’s wrong? Do you not like him?”

She scoffed and crossed her arms while straightening her back. “Pft. No. I fucking hate that kid.”

Lance just kept getting surprised by people. They were like an onion; every layer he knew there was another one that was different from the one prior. “Wow. Really? What did he do?”

She huffed and rolled her eyes. Lance didn’t know if it was directed to him but it was rude either way. “He’s so creepy, and quiet. He doesn’t say anything and just stares at people. He also gets into other people’s business. He’s sketchy; I don't trust him."

Lance couldn’t really believe his ears.

‘ _Did she just really say that? About Keith?’_

The only thing that was sketchy was what she was saying. He didn’t want to not trust her… But…

“Do you even know him?” Lance questioned, terrified of what she might say.

“Do I have to? He’s in one of my classes but that’s enough to see who he really is.”

Lance looked at Keith, he was infuriated. Not at him, but at her. His face warmed up into a beet red. The steam evaporated into the air and made a mini hot air mass around his head. He was done.

“Are you kidding me? How could you say that? You don’t even know him!” He was louder than an inside voice, but softer than a scream. Basically, teetering on the edge of a long yelp and a yell about to go loose. People paid attention, to the big man talking to the small girl.

“Seriously? Are you really defending this kid?” She said, vile disgust forming on her face. “What do _you_ even know about him?” She glared into his eyes; the cute and flirty girl he knew a week ago was gone.

“More than you!” He said, practically screaming down at her.

“Yea, right! You just transferred in!” Her body stiffened as she shouted in his face, eyebrows scrunched and emotions flaring wildly.

“For your information, I’ve known him for years!” He yelled back.

“Have you now? Well, that explains a lot, doesn’t it?!” Lance stepped back, surprised at the louder yell, more surprised at her word choice.

“What are you trying to say!?” He questioned in a demanding tone while looking down at the girl.

“I should have known! You know what? Forget you!” She said as she turned extravagantly and stormed off, leaving a trail of wild emotions and a fuming Lance to stand alone.

“Fine!” He said, throwing his arms into the air.

‘ _Did I really just hear that? From the girl I liked? Now I’m getting extra thoughts.”_

He thought, watching her figure leave, leaving only her silhouette in the dust.

He looked at the ground, fists clenched hard, shaking in the sudden silence he was now put in.

“Breathe, Lance. Breathe.” He whispered under his breath. He breathed in and out, letting the air fill his lungs and flow out in a rhythmic pattern. After a few minutes, he was calm, but his head was another storm of chaos.

‘ _Really? Who does she think she is? What gives her the right to say that. What gives anyone the right to say that!?’_

He started to fume again but stopped himself before it could manifest into something else. He turned to look at Keith and saw the body in the distance flinch in fear.

‘ _Shit.’_ Lance cursed, wiping the intense look off his face. He looked at at the other boy, holding the straps of his book bag while staring at the ground with a sort of awkward expression.

_‘Better go clear thing up…'_

 

* * *

 

Keith stood by a random sign, watching Lance walk towards him. Lance’s expression was soft, almost apologetic, but Keith wasn’t sure…

He continued gripping the straps of his backpack and staring at the floor. He looked away from Lance’s direction, but that didn’t do anything at all.

He kept looking at the ground even when he heard the voice.

“Hey… Keith?” Lance said, unsure of what to do.

“Yea?” Keith replied, not moving an inch.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry. That glare thing was totally not directed at you. I was just mad at something.” Lance’s face softened even more.

“Really?” Keith looked up, meeting Lance’s gaze. Lance smiled.

“Yea. I’m really sorry.”

“Was it about me?” Lance crinkled his eyebrows.

“What?”

“The fight?”

“Oh. OH I mean uh…” Lance froze, trying to think of what to say next. He wasn’t really supposed to say the first ‘oh’ out loud.

“So, it was?” Keith questioned, frowning a bit.

“Uh, well, no. We just had different opinions on a matter.”

“Oh, ok.” Keith said, not believing what Lance said. Lance wished Keith did, but he didn’t.

 _‘Fuck…’_ Lance thought, awkwardly looking away, the corner of his mouth twitching awkwardly.

Keith looked away awkwardly too. They were like two teenagers going through their ‘cringey and weird’ stage, except they were talking about adult things. _Sort of_ adult things.

Lance looked back at Keith and noticed that Keith was looking side to side, hugging his body close together. It was like he was watching out for something. He looked closer and saw the dark circles under his eyes.

“Uh, Keith? Are you okay?” A sense of worry was expressed on Lance’s face.

Keith looked up at Lance but quickly averted his gaze. And to Lance’s surprise, Keith responded by giving a small nod while biting his lip.

Lance looked around, to make sure Allura wasn’t there to obliterate him. He turned back to Keith and stepped closer.

“Hey, do you want to talk about it?” Keith looked back at Lance and released a huge sigh while relaxing his body. It wasn’t as stiff as before, and he still hugged his frame, but this time he was a little shaky.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Lance said, stepping even closer until they were one body apart, putting a hand on Keith’s shoulder.

“I just-” Keith said again, throwing his arms out and sighing another time. “I just feel like… Someone’s watching me. It's been like that for a week.”

Lance raised his eyebrows in shock. “Really? Are you okay? Did you tell Shiro?” His voice quaked with eagerness on the situation.

“N- No. I didn’t tell Shiro. It’s just that… I’ve felt like this before, so I thought it was normal. But it’s been a week and they don’t really last that long. I don’t know… I think it’s just me but… It’s just been so long…” Keith didn’t say any more, and started playing with the hem of his shirt.

“So, you think you’ll get over it?” Lance questioned looking at the person in front of him.

“Mmm… Yea…” He stayed quiet for a bit, but not for long. “I don’t feel safe sometimes when I’m walking alone. I tell myself to get over it, but I feel jittery, you know?” Looking into his eyes Lance saw embedded fear.

_‘Woah.’_

“Yea, that sounds rough. If you want… I can walk you home?” Lance offered.

Keith's eyes brightened for a bit, but soon lost their spark and faded into a dull color. “Uh, no. It’s okay.” He bit his bottom lip. Lance read people, he knew Keith wasn’t okay.

“Sorry. I guess that was kind of stalkerish of me, wasn’t it?” Keith’s eyes widened at what he just heard.

“No! No, not at all. I just… Wouldn’t want to bother you since it’s just me. I’ll get over with some time.” His chest deflated as he let his words trail on.

“Are you sure?” Lance cocked an eyebrow at Keith. Keith huffed.

“Yea. Thanks for the offer.”

“No problem.” Lance smiled again, a soft, gentle smile. Keith saw and his heart melted, he smiled back. Lance cared and that made him feel so at ease. He was in such a serene place when he was with him. The stress in him left but the residual aching after clenching onto something so long lingered.

“Well, see you later.” Lance took his hand of Keith’s shoulder and turned, but Keith grabbed onto his arm.

“Wait!” He yelled, anxiousness rising. Lance’s eyes widened but returned to his natural demeanor.

“Was there something else?” He asked. Keith quickly let go and put his arms behind him while blushing.

“Sorry…” Lance chuckled while watching Keith turn pick.

“It’s okay. So, what did you want to say?”

“Oh, um, I…” Keith stuttered while Lance smiled internally, squealing a bit at how adorable Keith was.

“I just… wanted to thank you…” Pink removed itself from Keith’s face but it still lingered.

“You already did.”

“No, I mean… For last week, when you found me.” Lance raised his eyebrows again and they were kind of starting to ache.

“Last week?”

“Yea… You know, when you found me and took me to your apartment and stuff…” He let his words trail off, feeling like a fool for no reason.

“You don’t have to thank me. I was just doing a favor and stuff.”

“But I do.” Keith looked at the concrete that never moved, but then looked back up with a strong unwavering gaze. “Thank you, Lance. Really. You made me feel safe and that was what I needed. And Lance?”

“Yea?” Lance replied back, waiting for the rest.

“Thanks for today. For talking with me. It made me feel better.” Lance smiled his proud, happy dad grin.

“No problem.” And he turned and walked away.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ad comments pls. also  
> NEXT CHAPTER SUPER UPER DUPPER IMPORTANT U ASS BETTAH BE RED E!!!  
> loves and doves-  
> catherinergrove 
> 
> also, i think i'm getting better at writing and typing :o


	9. Old Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Published: July 8th, 2017
> 
> I actually on time oh shiet

Keith stepped out of the agricultural science building of his campus. It always took a long time to get out that building, with all the twists and turns. The hanging signs with numbers that intertwined with each other didn’t help at all. Not to mention, that it was also ginormous because his school may or may not have an awkward fetish with plants and green things.

He breathed in the cool air and blew out, watching the white air puff out of his mouth as it condensed in soft whispers. He hopped down the steps and started walking down the sidewalk.

It was eerie. There was no moon in the sky and the only thing above were the shadows of creeping clouds over him.

He kept walking.

There was nothing on his mind, not a word. He was worried before, of the stalkerish presence he felt the past week, but he didn’t feel it now. It was calming, to just walk slowly, alone in the light of the street lamps that dusted the streets, but he wasn’t going to take any chance.

He picked up his pace, walking faster and exiting his campus. He was in the city now, streetlights and turning signals illuminating every block and corner that he passed on. Strangely enough, there weren’t many people walking.

He looked around, and the streets were crowded with cars like they normally were.

_‘Strange…’_

Keith kept walking his normal route back to his apartment. The seconds ticked by as the cars flew past him and the clouds crept along, making hisses in their steps. The seconds turned into minutes, and the minutes turned into _many_ minutes.

Keith kind of liked this. Actually _liked_ it; the quietness of the street as he walked alone in the cool air that kissed his cheeks. The nice, cold hug he received as his little body radiated heat. The silence of the world as he walked alone, cruising by the sleeping people and barely audible whispers in the apartment buildings around him. There was a solace he felt in the gray night sky that reflected his emotions in an uncanny, accurate way. It was… Nice…

He wished he could close his eyes and let the city sweep him away, but he couldn’t. He had to get home. The minute when he broke himself out from his trance was when he felt it; the presence behind him.

It was strange, unfamiliar yet familiar at the same time. _Jamais Vu_ in a sense.

It was on the other side of the street, a block down. He turned his head back, inching ever so slightly to take a peek. He saw a shadow; tall, and dark. He quickly whipped his head around and started speed-walking This presence was different than before, not as ominous as the other one, but it was a person nevertheless.

And _it_ was following him.

He picked up his pace, the ground hitting back his steps to add some bounce. He felt the presence following him pick up their pace so that they were at the same speed. It was awkward, “feeling’ a presence that he couldn’t even see, but it was a skill he developed. A skill he used many times when he was

Keith thought about his past for a few seconds, the _horrid_ things he had to go through. He picked up his speed again and turned into a jog. He winced away from the memories as he ran, feeling his muscles tense at every thought of his family. The person following him stopped, stopped for a while. When Keith was far away enough to not feel him on his tail, he slowed down.

He caught his breath and coughed. Severe hotness and great coolness didn’t mix. Keith was a sweaty mess. He never had to jog that much since he was in high school. He slowed until he stood in place toppled over with his hands on his knees. Relaxing with a breathing exercise, he cooled down until he was calm.

He was tired of life, so Keith just sat there, in the middle of the sidewalk. He eased himself onto the ground, feeling the cold hardness of the cracks and bubbles in the concrete dig into his palm, then on his behind. Life was a mess.

He sat for about thirty seconds until he felt a person run straight towards him from the distance.

He turned back and saw that it was indeed another human life force running straight on the other side of the sidewalk a few blocks down. That’s when Keith turned and started running.

He shot out of the ground like an electrical spark and ran down the sidewalk. When he reached the corner he turned. It wasn't the way to his apartment, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to run and get away from whoever was chasing him. He kept running.

He kept running.

He ran down the block; lights, cars, and sounds flew by as the wind whipped his hair. His black tresses flew in the wind as his body sped through the night. Nothing was holding him back.

In the back of his mind, his shadows were cooing him, coaxing him to _‘run’_ , _‘go faster’_ and he did just that. His emotions heightened as thoughts began to form in his head, dread starting to consume his heart.

He ran across the street, not even looking both ways to see if it was clear to pass. He kept running past the buildings. His mind was a wild storm, over loading with too many emotions to handle. The colors were a blur, darkness over him with gray and yellow at his sides. He passed by a few buildings and water formed at his eyes and fell, leaving nothing in its wake. He hit max speed and was running even more until an arm between two buildings grabbed him and pulled him into the alley.

He gasped as he felt the hand wrapped his elbow in a tight grip and swiftly tugged him into the dark crevice of the two buildings.

He was thrust onto one of the walls and held there with a mighty grasp. He gasped at the impact, and hacked and wheezed, trying to catch his breath. His eyes were watery with tears and they fell off his face. Hotness roamed throughout his entire body, leaving his clothes soaked.

He was tired, but the fear kept him awake.

_“Look at me.”_

He looked but he couldn’t believe what he saw.

Through tear stained eyes he saw back to four years ago.

Four years ago when he moved and lived with his uncle’s family after he was taken away from his father.

Four years ago when he felt the pain of being alive.

Four years ago when he had to endure horrid things to survive.

Four years ago when he lived hell every day, wishing that he could just die

but it never came true.

He saw Four years ago in just one person that was standing in front of him now.

He buried the memories and suppressed his feelings, but now? He had so _many_ questions, yet he couldn’t say a thing.

 _“I said look at me!!!”_ The figure in front of him screamed in his face. Keith _was_ looking at them, a bit out of focus, but looking at them.

 _“See what you fucking did?”_ Keith didn’t respond, he could only watch in silence. Eyes wide, body shaking.

 _“You messed everything up. It’s all your fucking fault that everything broke to pieces.”_ Keith’s breath hitched as he listened to her, becoming more erratic as his ears throbbed at the sound of the person in front of him.

_“It’s all your fucking fault that nothing went right. All your fucking fault. And now? I have to suffer because of your choices. What do you have to say for yourself?”_

Keith could only gape at them like a fish, eyes wide, mouth opening and closing, finding words to say but not being able to say anything at all. They grew impatient, eyes narrowed under the dark of the sky.

_“Is that all you have to say? At least take care of your consequences, you insolent child!”_

They raised their right hand over their head, getting ready to swing. The tears reformed around the rim of his eyes as he froze. Memories flooded back to him in a tidal wave of fear as he stared at the hand. He was too afraid to move, too afraid to blink.

He watched the hand go down, and he winced away, hoping to feel less of the pain. But before he could get hit, a dark, tall figure jumped in and attacked his assailant.

 

* * *

 

Lance didn’t know what he was doing.

It was all a blur.

All he could see was a person about to attack someone else and before he knew it, his body jumped in and punched the assailant in the face. He was flying through the air, jumping with full force, and the impact sent to assailant sprawling on the ground. It was so dark and he couldn’t really see any faces, but he saw at the boy in front of him.

Keith.

He grabbed Keith’s wrist and began running,

without looking back.

 

* * *

 

Lance broke into his apartment with Keith in tow and stumbled inside. He wheezed, trying to catch his breath. Fear was what took hold as he ran and hit max speed, racing all the way to his apartment complex.

The floor under him was so solid and stable, that’s when he realized he was shaking.

He hugged his body inward, clutching his heart and breathing slowly till the shaking stopped.

It never really did though, because he was shaking on the inside.

because he was shaking on the inside.

His eyes widened in shock in remembrance as he turned to look behind him.

“Keith!” Keith just sat there, on the floor looking at the ground. His hands were under him, body supported from the ground as his legs were laying in arches to his side.

“Keith?” Lance scooted over to him. He raised his hand and moved a few locks of hair from Keith’s down cast face. As he lifted the locks up to place them behind Keith’s ear that’s when he noticed Keith was shaking too.

“It’s not fair.” Keith said, without moving a single muscle.

“What?” Lance questioned, waiting for the rest.

“It’s not fair.” Keith’s voiced cracked on the last syllable as he tried to choke back his cry in vain. The water stung his eye from after all of the crying prior but they didn't cease coming back. He brought his hands to his face, hiding his tears in the back of his hands.

He sobbed, hicking after every few seconds.

Lance moved in closer, putting a supportive hand on Keith’s shoulder.

Keith brushed off the hand and hunched, screaming into nothing. “It’s not fair!!! I didn’t do anything wrong!! But, why is it always me?” He was fully crying by now. Tears a waterfall gliding off his smooth face as his face heated up due to the extremes of emotions.

He was fully crying by now. Tears a waterfall gliding off his smooth face as his face heated up due to the extremes of his emotions.

“I didn’t do anything. I didn’t do anything wrong.” Lance moved in closer, separating his legs so they were around Keith.

“But, why me? Why is it always me? Why?” And Lance pulled him into a hug.

Keith cried into Lance’s chest, feeling the strong surface against his face mixed with the fabric of his jacket buffer his loud cries. The stability gave him peace. He hugged back, hugging Lance’s torso as his arms grabbed the fabric at Lance’s back shakily.

He kept crying, letting everything break loose.

Lance couldn’t say anything, he didn’t know what to say.

He just sat there, sat there hugging Keith’s little, shaking body. 

He squeezed Keith, never letting go.

 

And there he was, hugging and comforting Keith,

Until they both fell asleep in each other's arms.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have announcement. I make chapter tomorrow, but it actually announcement. i tell you mo l8r ❤️
> 
> Edit: Comment bb. If you're questioning if you want to comment, just do it. Just do it. Don't let your dreams be dreams.


	10. Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Published: July 14th, 2017

Lance woke up to the sound to the pitter-patter of the rain against his apartment building. It was dark in his room the curtains partly closed and no shining sun to light up the room. The only light was the sun peeking out through the clouds, making the whole world gray.

He woke up drowsily, a crick in his back made him slower as he got up. He was still in his jacket from yesterday, and he felt the layers of oil and sweat upon the fabric as he moved in it. He cringed at the feeling.

Last night was all a blur after entering his apartment. He remembered when Keith stop shaking considerably, he moved them to the bed and continued to hug Keith. After Keith had quieted down a bit, he still held on to his body. He was so small and skinny compared to his lanky self. He didn’t want to disturb Keith so he kept holding onto him until eventually, he fell asleep.

He looked around, rubbing his face to shake the drowsiness away. He rested his face in his palms for a few minutes, in a daze. His skin was oily because he skipped his cultish nightly routine, but it was whatever.

He opened his eyes and looked next to him. There was an empty space in the mess of the bed that was there. And that’s when he realized that Keith was missing.

_‘Oh shit…’_

He removed his blanket off of him with a large and frantic flourish as he jumped out of bed. He ran out his bedroom, griping on the doorframe for support as he bolted too quickly for his own good.

“Ke-!” And that’s when he saw him.

Keith was sitting on the couch, staring at the rain.

He was staring out the window in dreamy fascination. It was like he found solace in the comfort of the dull sky and soothing melodies of the falling water.

Lance didn’t even finish saying his name, and he decided to not finish at all. He walked to his kitchen counter and leaned on it, staring at Keith.

It was like a re-run of last week. Keith staring at the rain, and Lance just staring at Keith’s lonely silhouette.

But… It was different.

Keith was sitting by himself, but he wasn’t alone.

He had Lance.

 _Lance_ cared about him. He really did, and Keith might not know it, and he may never will, but Lance decided that he was going to care too.

He was going to help Keith when he was hurt. To help pick him up when he was down and to cheer him up when he needed it the most.

No matter who tried to stop him or who got in his way, he was going to help Keith no matter what.

No motives behind it or strings attached. He _cared._  

Lance decided that Keith wasn’t going to be alone anymore.

He moved from his kitchen counter and walked into the living room. He got to the couch and sat next to Keith without saying anything.

Keith was broken out of his light trance when he felt that Lance had settled into his seat a foot away from him. He turned his head and looked at Lance. He smiled and went back to rain watching. Lance didn’t see the smile, but he turned to look at Keith, and he smiled back. He turned back too to watch the rain.

 

And there he was,

watching the rain with him.

 

* * *

 

 

Lance went through the motions again of entering the fancy apartment building and standing in the elevator until he was in front of Keith’s apartment door with him.

They didn’t talk much on the way there, but there weren’t any dark emotions behind the silence. It was just a mutual agreement to not say anything. The mood was good so why bother trying to change it into something else?

Keith knocked on the door without hesitation and a few loud foot steps later, someone answered the door.

Shiro opened it. His hair was a mess and stuck out in many places, especially in the front where his white streaks were. The distress on his face was lifted with a sigh as he harshly leaned against the doorway and let his head thud loudly against the door frame. He closed his eyes, he was like an old man that just released 10 years of stress and family dishonor.

“ _Oh god…_ ” He sighed, accentuating the dark circles under his eyes.

“Hey.” Keith said softly through a smile.

Shiro straightened himself and opened his eyes again. Then, he opened his arms, inviting Keith into a hug. Keith accepted and walked closer to Shiro. That was when Shiro surrounded Keith’s body with his broad arms and crushed him in the union.

Keith’s body jerked a bit before he was entirely in Shiro’s grasp. Shiro’s head was on Keith’s shoulder as Keith tried to hug back. His feet were almost off the ground and the life was draining out of him.

“ _Can’t… Breathe…_ ” Shiro immediately separated Keith’s body from him self as his strong arms gripped Keith’s shoulders. Worry knitted his brows together again.

“Are you hurt?” He said with immediate fret. He moved his right hand to cup the side of Keith’s face.

“Are you okay???” Keith gently placed his hand on Shiro’s hand and smiled into his father figure’s palm. Keith was home.

“I’m okay.” Keith was where he needed to be.

“ _Is he there???_?” A British accent questioned from the inside. The door opened wider and revealed more of the lavishly decorated apartment.

“ _Oh my god_.” Allura covered her mouth with both hands as water started to rim her eyes.

_‘Are those… Tears?’_

Keith walked in and Allura ran to him with a hug; she nearly toppled him over.

“I was _so, so_ worried.” She said through muffled fabric as she spoke into Keith’s shoulder.

“I’m alright. Don’t be worried, I’m here now.” Allura held onto to Keith’s body so tightly, yet so gentle at the same time. She had the mother’s touch.

Shiro turned his head away from Allura and Keith to face Lance. There was a moment of surprise on his face, but he masked it quickly. Shiro hadn’t probably known that Lance had been standing there the whole time.

Shiro looked back at Keith and Allura, then stepped into the apartment hallway and closed the door to let the two of them have their time.

“Good morning, Lance.” Shiro said with a sigh. He looked like aged. Messy hair… Dirty clothes… Oily skin?

“Good Morning. Wow. You don’t look so good.” Shiro sighed again, closing his eyes for a second too long like he was enjoying the darkness his eyelids gave. 

“Not enough sleep, huh?” Shiro gave out a laugh that crinkled his face into a smile.

“Ha. Yea…” His eyelids fluttered lower into a drowsy _‘I want to sleep_ ’ state.

“Are you guys… Okay? Doesn’t look like everything is.” Shiro sighed, but lighter this time. It border-lined with a huff.

“You don’t even know. Allura and I’ve been up all night worrying about Keith. We were freaking on where he would be and we looked around all night. We even asked some friends to help too. We weren’t sure about making it official but we were going to take it to the police this morning if he didn’t come home. I’m so glad he did though. You can’t even believe.”

Lance widened his eyes. “Wow… That’s… Hardcore… Why worry so much though? He’s an adult and all… And… you know…” Lance didn’t really plan what he was going to say.

Shiro narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “What do you mean?”

Lance choked under the pressure. Shiro was a scary man. “Sorry. I didn’t mean anything. I didn’t really think.” Shiro was a _very_ scary man.

“Okay… Were you with Keith all night?”

“Yea. I was-”

“Why?”  Shiro cut him off before he could even continue but it was whatever. He’s just tired. And delusional…

“Well actually…” Shiro cocked one of his eyebrows, raising it higher.

“I saved him from getting kidnapped.” Shiro’s mouth gaped wide open as he processed the news.

“ _Oh my god…_ ” He said as he stared at the intricate work of the carpet below him, thoughts racing through his mind.

“ _Who would do such a thing?_ ”

“I don’t know. I just saw him with someone that was about to hurt him and I just jumped in and rescued him. We ran to my house and we stayed there the whole night.” Lance spoke truthfully and Shiro heard its value.

“Lance, I’m so grateful for what you’ve done… And I’m also very sorry for what I’ve done.”

Lance scrunched his brows, puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“I should have trusted you more. Last week. You helped him last week, and you helped him again, and you helped him once more. I’m so appreciative of what you’ve done and I treated you wrongly. I can’t believe I was so stupid.”

“Hey, hey, hey… Don’t beat yourself up. It’s nothing. If I worried for someone as much as you did for Keith, I would be suspicious too.”

Shiro smiled, thinking about Lance’s words. “Thanks.”

Lance smiled back. Shiro was spooky but he was just a big grizzly bear that was only sometimes a hardass. “Don’t mention it.”

“I can’t believe it…” Shiro’s expression suddenly hardened in deep thought.

“Who would of done this?” Lance’s expression hardened too.

“I don’t know. But relax. Just for a bit. He’s here now, and you need a nap.”

Shiro smiled again, his eyelashes fluttered close as he smiled. “You’re right, you’re right.”

He released one last sigh as he got ready to speak up. “Again, thanks so much.”

Lance was kind of getting tired of Shiro saying the same thing over again. “Stop. You’ve already said that numerous amount of times. Now, go inside. You need some rest, big guy.”

“Alright, alright.” He huffed lightly. Shiro opened the door, but took one last look at Lance and smiled.

“Thanks, Lance.” Shiro was just a grizzly bear. A very, very grateful grizzly bear.

Lance smiled back. “No problem.” And Shiro went inside the apartment, shutting the door behind him.

 

* * *

 

Lance exited the building, crisp coolness of the wind bit his cheeks. He stopped when he felt a vibration in his pockets. He reached for the cellular device and unlocked it. He read the new text with a dark expression.

 **Unidentified Number:** No matter what you do, I’ll never trust you.

Lance pocketed his phone away with a snarl on his face.

Some people just can't be convinced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> srry it short liek me. i post tomorrow. okie 
> 
> bt dubs. comment.


	11. Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Published: July 15th, 2017

PART TWO FEMALE DOGS. 

 

Are you excited? Cause I'm excited. 

 

There was absolutely no reason to add this note page but I started remembering To Kill A Mocking Bird and I got Part two vibes so. u kno. 

 

Anyways, I'm taking a break. I'll post the week after next week. 

 

Honestly it's just me dying on the inside BUT ALSO, I haven't even finished my fucking story line.

 

IM NOT EVEN REMOTELY DONE.

 

my story line doesn't even make sense liek it's basically, Klance meets, then the chapter where keef gets kidnapped, but after that night and in the morning, lance kisses keef for no reason. like FIRST OF ALL, every kiss begins with K. KONSENT. So, uh, NO. And then a few characters deaths, some fuk, BUT NO FUK, and then like conflict, rising action? climax? i don't fucking know. Yea, it's a fucking mess. 

Dont yell at me jeez louis. 

 

Oh and btw if any of u remember how i said fuk long chapters? New readers ignore this. 

 

okay so i take it back. I seperated one of my chapters into 3 chapters and it looks like shit so im gonna put them back together in a few days. Also, the chapter before this note is gonna be mixed with the chapter before that chapter. I'm not really saying chapter names because for fuck's sake i can't even remember them. Ik. 

 

These notes are gonna be up forever by the way. It's gonna be confusing for new readers but I believe everyone deserves to know my thoughts of a shit storm. 

 

Okay bb. See ya later!!!!!

 

btw ily ❤️

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> damn i was gonna add something important but i forgot
> 
> Edit: July 17th, 2017   
> I REMEMBER WHAT I WAS GONNA WRITE.   
> im taking a summer class and my laptop wasnt working so i have a 51 rn lol  
> it works now so now im at a 53 ^^


	12. Stronger Foundations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HEHEHEHE DIS DA GOOD SHIT

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Published: July 28th, 2017
> 
> Back from my break. Did I really edit my story line? No not really, but damn was it a good break.

“I still don’t trust him.” Allura said as she leaned on the kitchen counter in her apartment. It was the next day and after an entire day of rest, she was up and about again the next morning.

“At least give him a chance.” Shiro replied, not too far off from where she was standing. They were waiting for the coffee to brew and decided they might as well start a conversation, and Allura definitely had things to say. 

“I just don’t know why you’re so trusting of him.” She replied in an exasperated tone.

“I said at least give him a chance,” Shiro said back, repeating himself. “Besides, why are you so distrusting of him anyway?” Allura sighed, relaxing into the edge of the counter.

“First of all, he comes over by running toward Keith and scares him, next, he reappears in front of Keith two more times in the next week and ‘magically’ pops up in front of him the right time to save him.” 

"Well actually, it's threes time."

"What?"

"While you were gone a few days back Lance took Keith to his apartment."

"WHAT?"

"It's no big deal, Allura. No need to freak out.

She sighed out, catching her breath. "You can’t deny that that’s particularly strange.”

Shiro nodded, he couldn’t help but agree a little. “Okay, yea. That is kind of strange but he has proven himself time and time again. He hasn’t hurt Keith has he?”

“No, but-”

“Of course he hasn’t. So that doesn’t give you really any reason to dislike him you know…”

Allura said again, at a loss. “I know… But who knows? It’s just, I see Keith as a son to me… I don’t want to see him get hurt.” She looked down, lost. Shiro moved in closer to comfort her, the closeness was all she needed.

“I know you do Allura. You see him as your son and so do I, but Lance is a good guy. You should trust him.” Shiro’s voice was a soothing balm, but it didn’t give any solace to the girl in front of him.

“No. I don’t like the way he’s getting close to Keith. He may be nice to Keith and he may like him but I don’t like him. Just know that if Lance ever hurts Keith I’ll-”

“What about Lance?” A croaky voiced slurred with the remnants of sleep made the two talkers turn. Keith appeared from around the corner in an over sized shirt and a mop of bed hair.

“Good morning, Keith.” Keith walked to Allura while rubbing his eyes. Allura planted a kiss on his forehead before he left to roam around the rest of the kitchen.

“Mmm…” Keith replied to the kiss and moved to Shiro. Shiro ruffled Keith’s hair and it caused the boy beneath him to smile.

“Morning.” Keith stalked to the fridge and Shiro turned back to face Allura.

She was silent, but she gave a face that made Shiro think that it wasn’t over.

 

* * *

 

Lance and Hunk walked through their college campus a little after three pm. It was a familiar place, Lance stopped at the place where he spoke with Brie only yesterday. The only difference was that he was talking to Hunk. The thoughts of her sent shivers down his spine.

“Are you alright, buddy?” Hunk questioned in a concerning tone.

“It’s nothing, big guy. Just some bad memories.” Lance sent his friend a warm smile, but he didn’t take chances.

“Are you sure you’re okay? I have some salts infused with minerals that smell nice and relieve stress.”

“No thanks, Hunk. I appreciate the thought though.” Hunk smiled back.

“Don’t mention it.”

They stood there in that familiar place talking for a while. Around 10 minutes went by before Hunk switched the topic of their conversation.

“Hey… Isn’t that Keith?” Lance scrunched his eyebrows and turned around.

“What?” He saw and there was Keith, standing by that campus sign just like yesterday.

“Hmm. Wonder what he’s doing there.”

“Well actually…” Hunk started, “He’s been standing there the whole time kind of looking at you.”

“At me?” Lance questioned.

“Well, yea. He wouldn’t be looking at me.” Hunk had a point. “Well, you should go talk to him.”

Lance thought about it. “Yea… I should… I guess I’ll see you later?”

“Yea.” Hunk agreed and after making their farewells Lance walked over to meet Keith.

“Hey, Keith.” Lance approached him with ease. There were negative thoughts on his conscience and Keith looked more lively today.

“Hey.” Keith smiled and it made Lance feel pleased. It was so long ago when he saw Keith looking gloomy every day but now he was smiling. Lance felt happy for Keith.

But then, there was the awkwardness of not having anything to say. Lance tripped over his own thoughts, trying to think of what to say. Fortunately, Keith already started talking.

“Lance, I just wanted to thank you for yesterday, and all the stuff before that. Talking and being with you was really what I needed.” Eternally, Lance was thrilled. He was actually successful at helping Keith, he couldn’t stop there.

“No problem. I’m glad to help any way I can. If you ever need anything else, just tell me.”

“Is that really okay?” Keith question.

“What?” Lance replied in a puzzled manner.

“I mean… I’ve been bothering you a lot this past week. I don’t think I really deserve to trouble you anymore…” Keith bit his cheek and looked away. Lance understood him and moved in to ruffle his hair.

Upon making contact, he was surprised with how soft it was. Every strand was like silk on his fingertips.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Lance softly said as he removed his hand. Keith looked up with wondering eyes. “I’ll help you with anything, no matter what. You’re not burdening me. Besides, it’s what friends are for.” He saw Keith visually perk up at the end of the sentence.

Keith smiled back, relieved, but somewhere deep inside there was a dark feeling that sparked. Keith quickly shook it away.

“I… Thanks… Thanks, Lance.” It was so calming.

“You’re welcome.” They stared at each other. The breeze was nice, cool against the nice clear sky that day. A few seconds passed before Lance’s phone vibrated in his pocket.

They were both startled by the sudden noise. Lance took out his phone and stared at the text he just received.

 **Shiro** : Can you come in right now? I’d like to talk about the incident with Keith.

Lance texted back without informing Keith of what was happening.

 **Lance:** Yea, of course. I’m on my way.

Lance looked up from his screen to meet Keith’s concerning gaze.

‘ _Why is he staring at me like that?’_

“Hey, I have to go right now.”

“Oh, okay.”

“I’ll see you around, yea?”

“Yea.” They both smiled and went off their separate ways but Lance couldn’t stop questioning the somewhat disappointed look Keith had on his face.

 

* * *

 

“Thanks so much for coming.” Lance and Shiro sat down in the all too familiar room. Same bright lighting as last week.

“I didn’t imagine myself being here again.” Lance felt a bit of bile form in his mouth thinking about past events.

“Me either. But now, the tables have turned.” Shiro opened his palms and spread them out in a worldly manner.

“How so?” Lance cocked his eyebrow.

“Well, for starters, you’re not a creep that runs after people on campus. We didn’t know that at first but…”

“You had your suspicions.”

“Yes, we did. But, I’m glad that it wasn’t so.” Lance didn’t want to talk about these awkward matters so he moved on to the order of business.

“So, the incident.”

“Ah, yes.” Shiro brought out a large pad of paper and settled it on the table. He took the pen from behind his ear (that Lance didn’t even know was there) and got it ready in his grasp to start writing.

“So, I just wanted to call you in to hear about the situation. Of course, if we were going to report it, it would go to the city police, but, if this was an incident that happened on campus, we would have to go through with it first.” Shiro finally stopped to make time for Lance to process everything.

“So, you’re not going to report this to the police?” Lance was confused. Keith was almost kidnapped; why wouldn’t they report it to the police?

“No, not yet at the least.”

“Why?”

“Well, I don’t know anything about the situation. If we were to report it, the only people that have any say would be you and Keith.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

‘ _Sort of.’_

“What do you need me to do?”

“I just need you to recount the incidents that happened that night.” Shiro moved his chair in closer to the table and bent down to start writing.

“Whenever you're ready.”

Lance recounted the incident, it didn’t take long, but the memories were so vivid and blurry that he could hardly make sense of it all. Eventually, he started.

“Okay, so, it was a cloudy dark night. Keith had just left a building off campus. I was following as he walked through the city and then for some reason he started walking faster and-”

“Wait wait wait.” Shiro looked up from his notepad to make eye contact with Lance.

“Yea?”

“Repeat what you just said.”

“It was a dark and cloudy night?”

“No no, after that. What were you doing?”

“I was following him?”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“..?” Lance didn’t understand what was so weird, until the epiphany hit him. His eyes widened in terror as he just realized what was wrong. Shiro saw right through him and Lance knew it.

“Lance…”

Lance gulped in fear.

“Yes….?”

“Why were you following Keith?”

“…”

“…”

“… Please don’t hit me.”

Shiro sighed while shaking his head.

“I’m not going to hit you. Just tell me why you were following him. You’re not… stalking him are you?”

“Oh GOD no. I wasn’t.

“Oh my god... You _are_ a creep.”

“NO NO NO THAT’S NOT WHAT IT IS. IT’S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE.”

Shiro chuckled and shook his head. The fear inside Lance manifested into a darker pit inside of him and he was falling in it.

‘ _Oh god… He’s definitely going to hit me…’_

“Sorry.” Shiro was trying to stifle a chuckle. “I was just teasing.”

“Oh…” Lance was still terrified. “Haha… Just a joke.” He was about to pee himself. “That’s great.”

“But still though. Why were you following him?”

Lance would rather tell the truth then get punched by Shiro. Forget the big, fluffy grizzly bear from yesterday. Shiro’s muscles were intimidating as hell.

“Keith told me he felt like someone was following him and he looked pretty stressed out. I offered to walk him home but he declined; but I was still worried.”

“So you followed him?”

“Yea.”

“Hmm…” Shiro grabbed his chin in thought.

“What? Is there something wrong? You look like you still don’t fully believe me…”

“It’s not that…” He released his chin and leaned back into his chair. “It’s just that Keith didn’t tell me anything like this. If he was feeling worried he should have told me.”

“I don’t know. He said it happened to him when he was young sometimes so he thought his mind was just making it up or something.”

“Huh… That’s makes sense.” Shiro leaned forward in his chair.

“But It still doesn’t make sense.”

“What doesn’t?”

“Why Keith is so afraid.”

“Oh… Well… He had to deal with a lot of stuff when he was younger.”

“Oh…” But Lance wasn’t done. To understand Keith, Lance had to know what Keith went through. “Like what?”

Shiro faltered, he wasn’t used to that question. “Sorry, Lance. I can’t really release that stuff. It’s private information.” Lance wasn’t satisfied with that answer.

“Come on, not even for me? You trust me don’t you?”

“Yea, I do.” Shiro looked around the empty room like he was afraid someone would be there. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “It’s pretty hard stuff. Legal stuff, really hardcore.” Lance lowered his voice to a whisper too.

“Okay…” Lance wasn’t happy; he absolutely need to know. That’s when the greatest idea he had popped in his head at perfect timing. “Listen, we can keep it between the two of us.”

“I’m sorry Lance, but I really can’t-”

“You owe me a favor.” Shiro couldn’t believe his ears.

“Really, Lance? Right now? And with Keith too? I don’t think I can-”  

“Now that I think about it… Don’t you owe me _twoooo_ favors?” Shiro couldn’t believe it. Not one bit.

“Lance…”

“Talk now or I’m pressing charges.”

“What? What would you even press charges for?” He shook his head, his face recreating the famous meme of a confused Jackie Chan.

“For hitting me.”

“Why would I even hit you?”

The whispers turned into a hiss on Lance’s breathe as he leaned in to get closer to Shiro’s face. “You’re a big strong man that looks like you’re under a lot of stress.” He said motioning to the patch of white hair on Shiro’s head. “It would make sense for you to release your anger on people.”

“…”

“Of course, being the young, handsome, talented, intelligent, amazing, astonishing-”

“Lance…”

“It would make sense for you to lash out on me.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“Yes, it does.”

“But that would never happen-”

“I’ll scream.”

“What.”

“I’m going to scream right now.”

“Lance.”

Lance got up from his chair and filled in his lungs with all the air he could muster to put in there. As he was about to scream, Shiro shot up and covered his mouth.

“ALRIGHT, alright.” Shiro said, forcing the both of them down into their seats. “I was going to tell you anyways…”

They got resettled. Shiro looked away while Lance waited. “So… What is it?” Shiro sighed deeply, like he was recounting bad memories of his own. “He was raped.”

“Oh…” Lance’s eyes widened as he looked down. He was so enthusiastic about trying to get the news. Now that he knew it, he felt ashamed for being too enthusiastic.

“And that’s not all of it.”

“Oh, yea?”

“It was his dad that raped him.” Lance’s mouth fell to the table as his eyes grew into the size of soccer balls.

“No way…”

“Yea. After that he was moved from families between his relatives. After that incident, he couldn’t really be the same.”

“Oh my god…” Lance shook his head. “I had no idea…”

“Yea, a lot of people don’t. He doesn’t talk much about it either so…”

“I can’t believe it…”

“Yea…” Lance thought about it while staring at the whiteness of the table. He didn’t really think of anything. Now that he knew the truth, he didn’t know what to do. He was stuck, but not until Shiro grabbed his hand.

“…Shiro?”

“Lance, please…” His tone was sincere. “I’m begging you…”

“What is it?”

“Please take care of Keith. It took him a lot of time to get to the state that he is now. He had to struggle and Allura and I had been taking care of him ever since he entered college. It took him a long time to trust people again. It took an even longer time for him to trust me. But, he likes you, and I trust you. So please, take care of him.” Shiro tightened his grip on the tan hand.

Lance grabbed back, putting assurance into Shiro. He looked him into the eyes, gaze as hard as centuries old stone. “You can count on me.” Shiro looked through his eyes, scanning the emotions. His expression softened as he stood up. Lance followed with his eyes as Shiro stuck his hand out.

Lance stood up slowly and examined the hand. He looked at Shiro who smiled at him and took the hand when he realized what it meant.

They shook hands, Shiro giving his full trust onto Lance’s shoulders while his own words echoed in his head.

_‘You can count on me.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLOT TWIST.
> 
> the plot didn't really twist but u kno.
> 
> Anyways, I'm not going to posting next week cause come on,  
> THE NEW FUCKING SEASON IS COMING OUT 
> 
> Like y ff if u can have the real fucking thing you kno? 
> 
> And lesbihonest here like no one is gonna read ff cause we all gonna be binging and watching the whole thing 78 times over again and starting conspiracy theories and all that shit. 
> 
> I'll be here the week after next week though. and i'll give u a hint to what the next chapter is gonna be about even though i didn't even write it yet: YOU PROBABLY HATE THIS TYPE OF CHEESE (if you know French cheeses it would make more sense. u can google it if u want no one is judging lmao.)


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